Closer to the Truth
by Moonlight Mermaids
Summary: Rob and Lauren Blakely have been concerned about the dark haired girl that had been hanging around their teenage son. When they go and question them, they find out a lot more than they expected. After the realization that Zac and Mimmi are twins, they start to wonder what else they could be hiding. First Fanfiction!
1. Chapter 1

Rob and Lauren Blakely stood outside their seventeen year old son's house. They could hear voices inside. Zac's deep voice laughed at something the more feminine said and the girl also began to laugh at her own comment. They had been in there for a half hour and Rob and Laura were starting to get concerned.

"Maybe we are just paranoid and Zac has a reasonable explanation of why he and that girl… what's her name again?" Lauren questioned her husband. Rob too have seemed to forgotten the girls name. Zac had been hanging out with almost every day, but still the parents had no clue what her name was.

"I believe it begins with an M" Rob said. Lauren nodded in agreement.

"I believe that Zac is a good kid and he wouldn't dare cheat on Evie. They have known each other since they were little and they have a bond that is still so strong. Do you see the way they look at each other?"

"Then why is he with her so often?" Rob replied, jerking his thumb toward the house. Lauren sighed in exhaustion.

"Why don't we just go in there and ask them?" Lauren turned away from her wide eyed husband and started walking towards Zac's tiny house.

Inside the house, Zac and his twin sister Mimmi were deep in conversation.

"I swear to you. The stupid snapping turtle bit my tail so hard in the middle of the exam. I screamed so loud that I think everyone back in the Northern Pod could hear it." Mimmi laughed remembering the event that made her brother laugh so hard he was gasping for air. Zac put his hand up, motioning her to stop so he could catch his breath.

A soft knock at his door silenced them both. They both looked at each other with confusion written across their faces. Another knock soon came after, this one much harder than the other. Zac got off the couch to go and answer it. Outside stood Lauren with a concerned look on her face and Rob with a much harsher look.

"Mum, Dad, hi. What's up? Zac said in a nonchalant voice. Mimmi could tell that her brother was trying to hide the concern in it. They had both on many occasions heard the parents whispering whenever she was around and sneaking glances towards her. The dad almost seemed angry at her but she knew it was silly. She had barely spoken two words to either of them since she and Zac found out they were twins four months ago. But she still questioned the fire in their eyes whenever she hung out with Zac.

"Hi honey." Lauren said in a sweet tone. "Can we talk with you and…" Her voice faltered and she nodded in Mimmi's direction.

"It's Mimmi" she said when she realized that Laura didn't know her name.

Lauren nodded. "Yes yes, Mimmi." She looked at Rob who nodded at her. Zac turned to Mimmi, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She shrugged and he let them into his room. Mimmi got off the couch she had been sitting on and straightened her flowy blue dress with tiny white shells all over it and smoothed down her long flowy dark brown hair held back in a white headband. She walked over to Zac, her white ballet flats tapping on the wooden floor. She tugged on Zac's navy blue shirt and motioned him to listen.

"Whatever it is, remain calm. Glance noticeably out the window if you want to make a break for it." She whispered into Zac's ear. He nodded, understanding the plan.

Rob and Lauren came inside Zac's house and looked around. Both of their gazes landed on the pile of prawns shells that the twins had left on the coffee table. The parents had noticed that Mimmi shared the same love of seafood as their son has.

Zac closed the door and motioned his parents to sit on the couch that Mimmi had recently abandoned. Zac then sat on the other small couch next to the one his parents were sitting on, and Mimmi sat on its armrest.

"How's Evie?" Rob blurted out, breaking the awkward silence. Mimmi and Zac looked at each other, confusion written across their faces.

"S-She's fine. What doe Evie have to do with anything?" Zac questioned.

"Is she fine with what is going on between you two?" Lauren joined in, adding to the conversation.

Mimmi looked surprised. "Yes. Why wouldn't she? She is happy that Zac and I found each. She is so happy that we are happy." Rob and Lauren looked concerned.

"Well I'm not!' Rob shouted, standing up and knocking over a glass of water. Zac and Mimmi jumped off the couch, trying not to get wet.

Mimmi looked over at Zac. He nodded to her, settling down her fears that he had not gotten splashed. Rob and Lauren observed this strange behavior.

Mimmi smiled sweetly. "It's a new dress. I don't want to get it wet."

"Dad, why aren't you happy for us?" Zac sat back down on the sofa and Mimmi followed his actions.

"Well I think that this whole thing is repulsive! No one should be doing this! Zac, I am completely disappointed in you. I thought I raised you better than that. How dare you be dating two girl sat once!"

He slammed his fist down on the coffee table, disrupting the pile of prawn shells.

"Dating two girls? Zac, what on earth is he talking about. Doesn't he know that you and I are…" Mimmi stopped and frowned. Pain quickly filled her dark blue eyes as she realized what was going on.

"Mimmi, I can explain" said Zac as Mimmi got up from the armrest and walk away from him. He quickly got off of the couch and grabbed her wrist. She spun around, pain and anger written all over her face.

Rob and Lauren watched the two siblings, unbeknownst to them that they were actually related.

"I thought you told them Zac! I thought you told them about me and this whole situation!" Tears began to flow down her cheeks.

"I thought you had finally accepted what has happened." She whispered. Mimmi yanked her hand away from Zac and turned away from him.

"I have accepted what has happened. You mean so much to me. Please don't leave." Tears were beginning to form in his eyes too.

"If I mean so much to you, than why haven't you told your family yet?"

Zac hesitated. He was unsure of what to say next.

"Oh I get it. You haven't come to terms yet." Mimmi walked closer to the door.

"They wouldn't understand what has happened to us!" Zac pointed to his parents, as if making a point."

"That's for them to decide. You know what Zac, I'm done. I'm going home. When you finally accept what has happened, you know where to find me. Until then, just leave me alone."

Mimmi walked the rest of the distance to the door and opened it. She took one last glance at Zac and shook her head. Tears still fell down her face.

"Mimmi stop!" Zac turned to his parents. "I am not cheating on Evie with Mimmi. We found out something four months ago that is hard for me to admit. But I really do care about her."

Zac looked at his hurt sister standing in the doorway. He turned back to face his parents.

"Mimmi is my twin sister."

And with that, I finish chapter one. I had this idea in my head for the longest time. This is my first fanfiction and I hope you liked it. Chapter two is on its way. Thanks for reading!

~ Moonlight Mermaids


	2. Chapter 2

The news made the entire house became silent. Mimmi closed the door and walked back to sit next to her brother. He gripped her hand as they awaited his parent's reaction.

Rob and Lauren stared at the siblings in shocked. Their faces turned pale as they looked at the children.

Rob broke the silence by laughing.

"Oh Zac, you have always been a jokester. Twins! What a hilarious thought. That's a good one. I mean if you were really related…"

"Rob look at them." Interrupted Lauren, gesturing to the twins who sat with a worried expression on their face.

"Look at them." She repeated. "They look so similar. They have the same bone structure and the same hair color. How did we not notice it before?"

Rob's eyes widened as he saw what his wife was seeing.

Zac looked over at Mimmi, who blushed. They really did look alike. They had a swimmers body (duh) and their bone structures were almost identical. They also had the same chocolate brown hair that Mimmi said their mother had. The only major difference is their eye color. Mimmi had dark blue eyes that often sparkled with delight. Zac had dark brown eyed that had a mischievous glint in them.

"H-How can this be? How did you find each other?" Lauren stammered.

Mimmi took a deep breath and before answering.

"It's true. We are twins. We found out four months ago. We were friends before, but we never knew that we were related."

Lauren closed her eyes before continuing. "Do you know anything about your birth mother?" She asked in a strained voice.

Mimmi sighed. "Yes."

Zac interrupted. "She kept Mimmi and gave me up for adoption."

"So abandoning a baby all alone on the beach is her form of adoption huh?" Lauren turned to Mimmi. "I need to talk to her. Can you give me her address?"

Mimmi looked over at Zac. "I'm sorry, but I can't"

"Why not? What is your mother's name?"

"Nerissa."

"Nerissa what?" said Lauren standing up and growing impatient.

"North." Replied Mimmi after a moment of hesitation.

Zac looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. Mimmi shrugged.

"Well I don't think that Nerissa North would be too busy to talk to the people who raised her son now would she?" Lauren asked firmly. "Where is she now?"

"I don't know." Mimmi croaked as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Of course you know where she is. She's your mother. Now where is she?" Rob yelled, standing up next to his wife.

"I-I…" Mimmi couldn't finish. She put her head in her hands and began to sob. Zac came over and hugged his sister. She turned and sobbed into his chest. He looked at his parents.

"Mimmi doesn't know because no one has seen Nerissa in 13 years. She disappeared one night leaving Mimmi all alone. No one knows what happened to her."

Mimmi sobbed harder.

Realizing her mistake, Lauren went to sooth the crying girl. She rubbed her back and made shushing noises.

"Shhhh. It's okay sweetheart. I'm so sorry." Lauren said.

After a few minutes, Mimmi sobs subsided. She looked up at Lauren.

"I's sorry. It's always been hard to talk about my- our mother." Mimmi wiped her eyes.

Lauren nodded and sat down next to her husband.

"What about your dad?" Rob asked.

Mimmi shook her head. "There was no dad in the picture."

Zac stood back down and gripped Mimmi's hand once again.

"How about we get off the topic of parents. Mimmi, where were you and Zac born?" Rob asked.

"Canada. We were born in Canada. Nerissa took Zac to Australia on our first birthday, June 21st." Rob and Lauren nodded, remembering the day when they found their son. "I came three years later."

"But why? Why would she give up one child and keep the other?" Rob asked.

"I don't know. I was told that where we lived was becoming unsafe. And having two children would have made it very hard for our mother to keep us safe."

"But why Australia?" Lauren looked over at her darling son.

Zac joined the conversation. "I bet she found the perfect people to take care of me." Rob and Lauren grinned.

"So who do you live with now?" questioned Lauren.

"Rita Santos. She knew my mother and she is taking care of me and my best friends Ondina and Sirena."

"Realization crossed Rob's face. "That's why you have been spending so much time at your principles house. I was starting to get worried."

Zac laughed. "No, Rita is like my aunt. Nothing is going on over there. I promise." Mimmi grinned.

"So, are you mad that Zac and I are siblings?" Mimmi asked in a whisper.

Rob and Lauren looked at each other.

"Are you kidding? Lauren and I have always wanted a daughter.

Mimmi smiled as Rob opened his arms. Mimmi got off the couch and ran into his arms. Lauren beckoned Zac to come over. They both joined the hug as the door opened.

Dun. Dun. Dun! CLIFFHANGER! Thanks for reading.

~Moonlight Mermaids


	3. Chapter 3

Evie opened the front door of her boyfriend's house to see the Blakely's and Mimmi hugging. She stopped suddenly.

"What did I miss?"

Mimmi detangled herself out of Rob's arms and walked over to Evie. She looked at her and hugged the confused brunette. After a moment of shock, Evie hugged her back.

They stopped hugging, and Evie looked at Mimmi's huge smile. She then looked at the resto the people in the house.

"What is going on here?" Evie asked with a laugh.

"Zac finally told his parents about me. They like me Evie, they really like me!" Mimmi replied, her grin growing bigger.

"What do you mean that he finally told them?" Evie looked over at her boyfriend. "You didn't tell them until now? Zac!"

Zac looked down, ashamed.

Lauren looked at Evie. "Wait, you knew about them?"

Evie nodded. "I was there when they found out. That night in the…" She trailed off.

"In the what?" asked Rob.

Evie looked at Mimmi, who had just sat back down on the arm rest, and at Zac. The twins shook their head in unison. Evie gave a slight nod towards them, a notation that she understood. She then looked back at the adults.

"In the living room. Rita's living room where she revealed that Zac and Mimmi were siblings." Evie looked at the twins, who nodded.

"How does Principle Santos play into all of this?" questioned Lauren.

"I told you. She knew Nerissa. She knew that I was Nerissa's daughter and there was rumors that she had a son. She saw us together and saw that we were so similar. She checked with some of her friends and came to the conclusion that Zac and I were siblings. She helped us realize that we were not only sibling but twins." imputed Mimmi.

"Oh, well that makes sense." Rob replied.

Zac let out the breath that he didn't notice that he was holding.

Mimmi too visibly looked relieved that they had bought the story.

"Now I have a question. Who is older?" Rob asked, pointing to the twins.

Zac was about to answer, but stopped with a puzzled look on his face. He too looked at Mimmi who smiled.

"Zac is the oldest." Said the grinning Mimmi. "But only by a few minutes I believe. At least that's what Rita told me."

Evie then walked away from the door and towards the smile pile of prawns on the table. She picked up and uneaten one, cracked the shell and popped it in her mouth. She then looked over and caught Mimmi's eye. Mimmi raised an eyebrow.

"What? I was hungry."

Mimmi laughed. "Come on. I'll go get you some fresh ones. I'm late with meeting the girls. Care to come with?"

"I would love to." Evie said.

The two brunettes said their goodbyes to everyone and exited the house.

Zac looked over at his parents.

"Do you forgive me for holding such a big secret from you?"

Lauren sighed and smiled. "Of course sweetheart. I just wish you would have told us sooner."

"You know Zac, you can tell your mother and me anything. We will always love and support you no matter what." Rob said, placing his hand on his son's knee.

Zac looked down at his knee and then into both of his parents eyes. "I know."

Mimmi and Evie swam into the moon pool to greet the fellow mermaids.

"You're late." Ondina remarked in an annoyed tone when they surfaced.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just had some things to sort out before I came." Mimmi explained to her best friend.

"What sort of things?" questioned Sirena who stopped counting the shells she had collected to join the conversation.

"Well, Zac finally told his parents about me, and they accepted me. Rob even called me his daughter. I have a family now!"

Sirena squealed and swam over to her friend.

"Oh Mimmi! I'm so happy for you!" She grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

Evie came over and joined the hug. When they separated, Mimmi looked over at Ondina who had her arms crossed.

"Am I the only one here who sees a problem? Mimmi, they are not your family. We're your family. And because you revealed this secret, Zac's parents are going to wonder what other secretes their son is keeping from them. You cannot trust them. They are land people and mermaids can't…" Ondina stopped as she saw the sorrow began to form in her friend's eyes

"Trust them." Ondinia finished. "Look Mimmi. I don't want to see get hurt. They are not like Cam, Carly and David. Once they find out that their son is a merman and his twin sister is a mermaid, they are going to try and fix you. Besides, isn't Zac's dad a doctor?"

Evie nodded.

"Exactly, it is in his nature to try and cure people like us." She made air quotes at the word cure.

"It's too risky. Please don't hate me."

Mimmi swam over and hugged her best friend.

"Thanks for looking out for me." She said in Ondina's wet, crazy hair. She pulled back and looked into her friends blue eyes as she held her shoulders. "But I have a feeling that everything will be fine."

Ondina looked down and sighed. "I wish I was as confident as you are. Go on, I trust you."

Mimmi smiled and swam out of the moon pool.

"I hope she knows what she has just gotten into." Ondina mumbled.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! I really like this chapter and I hope you did to. Thanks for your support.

~Moonlight Mermaids


	4. Chapter 4

Mimmi walked out of the girl's locker room and breathed in deeply. She looked around the Marine Park and smiled. She heard the dolphins chattering away about some random fish things that Mimmi soon zoned out. She saw the eager children pulling their tired parents toward the rides and the animals. Another day at work.

Mimmi grabbed her hat and pulled it over her long, curly brown hair. She grabbed her cart and pushed it to her normal spot and started to work.

"Marine Park souvenirs! Get them here!" Mimmi chanted. She smile as a little girl with cute dimples came over and payed for a baby sea lion stuff animal. As she was putting the money away, she heard a voice from behind her.

"Hey sis." Mimmi turned around and saw her brother and Evie holding hands. Evie was wearing a beautiful white flowy dress while Zac was holing a paper bag.

"Hey guys. What's up?" asked Mimmi.

"Zac and I were swimming and we found a patch of oysters. Rita told us that you forgot your lunch so we brought you some." Evie explained as Zac held out the paper bag.

"Aww! Thanks." She took the bag and looked inside. Inside was a container of oysters, a small bottle of water, a container full of grapes, her favorite fruit, and a three chocolate chip cookie. She recognized the cookies as Evie's special cookies, the one that Evie knows she adores.

"Perfect." Mimmi said, closing the bag and smiling at Evie and Zac. "So, what are you doing today?"

"Zac and I are going to go see the new horror movie in the movie theater down the street." Evie explained.

Mimmi looked over at Zac who had a grim expression on his face. Mimmi then remembered that her brother hated horror movies, but Evie loved them. She giggled at the thought.

"What's so funny?" asked Zac as his sister randomly giggled.

"Oh nothing. Have fun you to."

Zac and Evie walked away from Mimmi and she placed her lunch under the cart for later. She continued to wait for children to come and buy something.

She must have zoned out because before she could process what was happening, she was being lifted from behind and spun around.

Mimmi quickly turned around when her feet were planted firmly on the ground. She then stopped and stared at the person behind her.

"Chris!" she screamed, throwing herself into the young man's arms. Mimmi fit perfectly into his chest, kind of like a puzzle piece. His chin sat on top of her head.

He laughed, hugging her firmly. When he released her, Chris gripped her shoulders and gazed deep into her eyes.

"You're back! When did you get here? I missed…" he silenced her with a kiss. They shared their second kiss and everyone around them cheered.

They broke apart and laughed at the scene they has just caused.

"I got back an hour ago. I barely got to say hi to my grandparents before I rushed out the door to come and see you."

Mimmi blushed.

"So, do you want to go to lunch?" Chris asked, breaking the silence.

"I would love to, but I already…" her voice faltered as she saw that her lunch was gone. She looked around and saw a seagull with the bag in its mouth.

"Stop!" Mimmi shouted as she began to chase after that pesky bird.

"Hey, hey Mimmi. It's alright, let it go." Chris said, grabbing her wrist before she could chase the bird as it flew away with Mimmi's lunch in his beak.

Mimmi sighed and turned back to Chris.

"Well on the bright side, now we can go get lunch." He said cheerfully.

Mimmi laughed, which made Chris smile.

"Okay, fine." She agreed.

A few minutes later, the pair was walking through the front of the Ocean Café. Chris told Mimmi that he use to go there after work to get a turkey and cheese sandwich before he went home. Mimmi then told him that she often came there too.

"Hi Mimmi. Carly will be there for you in a minute." David called across the counter when he saw a regular customer and a friend of his girlfriend walk in.

She and Chris sat down at a table and began to look through their menus.

"So, what sounds good to you? Oh, and this is my treat, understand?" Chris said.

"You don't have to…" Mimmi began.

"Please" Chris said, interrupting her.

Mimmi sighed and nodded. They looked back at the menu.

"I might get the prawn salad. Carly makes this dressing that is to die for." Mimmi said with a dramatic wave of her hand.

Chris snorted. "Dramatic much?"

"Oh please. You should see my best friend. She could win an award."

"Yes she could." Said Carly walking up to the table. "She learned from the best though." She narrowed her eyes on Mimmi who stuck out her tongue.

"Who is this?" Carly asked, gesturing to Chris.

"Oh Carly, this is Chris my…" Mimmi stopped. "Co-worker" she said slowly.

Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Chris, this is Carly, a dear friend of mine." Mimmi finished. Chris and Carly shook hands.

"Great. What can I get for you?" Carly questioned.

"Umm, I'll have a prawn salad with a peach smoothie." Mimmi replied.

Carly nodded and looked at Chris.

"And I'll have a turkey and cheese sandwich with a strawberry and banana smoothie"

"Okay, I'll be back in a minute with your food." The blonde girl said, walking away from the couple.

"So, how was America?" Mimmi asked when Carly was out of sight.

"Oh, it was amazing. I cannot thank you enough for helping me with the dolphins. You are totally amazing for what you did."

Mimmi blushed a deep red and said "It was nothing really. It's just something I picked up."

"From where? What you taught me, some of the other dolphin trainers haven't even heard of."

"Oh, you know, around." Mimmi said awkwardly, not meeting Chris's eyes.

Chris saw how uncomfortable she was getting and decided to quickly change the subject.

"So tell me about your family?"

Mimmi's normally bright eyes darkened at the slightest amount.

"There isn't much to tell. I have a twin brother named Zac…" she began.

"Wait. Zac, Zac Blakely?" Chris asked, just realizing how much Mimmi and his friend from school looked alike. Mimmi nodded. "Wow. That's really cool. Zac's a great guy." This made Mimmi smile.

"What about your parents? What are they like?" Chris questioned.

"I don't really know. My mum disappeared when I was four and I never had a dad. Some of my mum's friends raised me, and now I am living with my two best friends and my aunt. You know her as principle Santos. She knew my mum."

Chris sat forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the table. "Mimmi, I'm so sorry about your mum. I don't have the best relationship with my parents either. "

This interested Mimmi. "Why? What happened?"

Chris sat back in his chair. Mimmi could see the pain in his eyes.

"Hey." She reached over the table and grabbed his hand. "It's okay. I won't judge."

He smiled a bit. "Well my parents are both lawyers who spend a lot of time away from home and I grew up with that. But, when I was eight, I was watching my little sister Catherine while they were away on a business trip. We were biking and a car came too fast around the corner. She was behind me and there was nothing I could do…" He stopped as the story began to become painful. Mimmi squeezed his hand and offered him a small smile. "Anyways, she got hit and died instantly. My parents blamed me for her death. I always had a bad relationship with them, but this threw it over the edge. After a few months of constant blame, I decided that enough is enough. I moved in with my grandparents and I remained there ever since. This is about the time my dad started drinking and it was all downhill from there. I rarely talk to my parents. I don't even think they know that I went to America."

"Oh Chris…" Mimmi began.

"And here we go." Carly said, putting down their food, making them both jump. She saw that they were holding hands. "Am I interrupting something?" She raised an eyebrow at Mimmi.

Chris cleared his throat and pulled his hand away from Mimmi's.

"We were just talking. Thanks for the food Carly."

Carly nodded, shot a wink of approval at Mimmi, and walked away.

"This looks good. Let's eat." Chris said, obviously wanting to change the subject. Mimmi nodded.

They ate their food making conversation throughout the meal. At one point of the meal, Chris cracked a joke which made Mimmi almost choke on her smoothie. It was very obvious that the lunch date was going well. When they finished, Chris payed the bill and they walked hand in hand back to the Marine Park.

Chris is back! *happy dance* I really hope you enjoyed this little lunch break between Chris and Mimmi. Hope you liked my version of Chris's backstory. Little dark, but I can predict some serious bonding in the near future.

On a side note, DID YOU WATCH THE NEWEST SEASON?! I was so happy at the end. There will definitely be some parts of season 3 that I will incorporate into this story. So look out!

Thanks again for the reviews, and I will see you guys soon.

~Moonlight Mermaids


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey Mimmi, how was your day?" Asked Sirena as Mimmi entered the grotto later that afternoon. Ondina looked up from the potion book that she was studying to see her best friend with a smile on her face.

"What happened?" she questioned before Mimmi could answer Sirena's question.

"Good, my day was very good." Mimmi said dreamily. Ondina raised an eyebrow at Mimmi's strange behavior. She walked away from the book and sat on the stone bench. Sirena followed her actions and abandoned the shells she had been counting for the bracelet she was making for Rita's upcoming birthday.

Mimmi sighed and went to sit on the coffee table across from the two girls.

"Remember Chris?" She asked. Sirena nodded quickly as Ondina hesitated trying to remember the boy her best friend was talking about.

"Is he the land boy that you told me that you kissed a few months ago?" Mimmi blushed and nodded.

"Yeah, that's him. Well he has returned from America yesterday. He took me out to lunch after a seagull ate mine. Oh, it was wonderful!" She said smiling, getting off the table. She began to dance around the grotto, humming to herself.

"What was wonderful?" said a voice behind her.

Mimmi stopped dancing and looked up to see her brother and Evie standing in the doorway with amused looks on their faces.

"Her date." Answered Sirena from the bench.

Zac's usually dark eyes darkened.

"Date? What date?" he asked in a strained voice.

"Oh, just with a guy I know at the Marine Park. He bought me lunch after a seagull ate the one you brought me." Mimmi answered softly.

"Well that's great news. Right Zac?" Evie said, trying to break the tension in the room. She elbowed her boyfriend when he didn't respond.

"Umm. Yeah. Great." Zac answered, his voice a little less strained.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ondina asked the couple.

"Oh, my parents want to know if you guys wanted to come over to dinner tonight. Now that they know that Mimmi and I are siblings, they really want to go and try and incorporate her in their lives. They want to properly meet all of you. Will you come?"

Sirena agreed quickly while Ondina again hesitated.

"I don't know. I don't really do dinner parties."

"We are having lobster." Zac persuaded, telling the blonde that his family was serving her favorite food.

"In that case, sure." Ondina agreed.

Evie and Mimmi both rolled their eyes.

"Great. Stop by around 5:00" With that, he took Evie's hand, said that they had errands to run and left the grotto.

"Come on Ondina. It will be fun!" Said Mimmi when she saw the annoyed look on her best friends face.

"Fine, fine. But I'm only going because this seems very important to you." The blonde haired mermaid said in a dramatic tone.

"That and you want lobsters." Teased Sirena, nudging Ondina with her shoulder.

Ondina laughed, "That too."

"What are we going to wear?" cried Mimmi suddenly.

Ondina and Sirena looked at each other.

"Shopping!" they both yelled.

Two hours later, the three young mermaids walked up to the Blakely's property. They had a productive shopping experience, and they all looked beautiful.

Sirena was wearing a sunny yellow dress, brown sandals and her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. Ondina was wearing black shorts, a flowy purple shirt that Mimmi forced her to buy with black ballet flats. She left her wild hair loose, despite the cries from her friends. Mimmi was wearing a white tank top, a long royal blue skirt with white sandals. Her chocolate brown hair was pulled into a braided bun. She held a small present for Lauren in her hands.

"Hey girls." Zac greeted as he saw them approach. He was wearing khaki shorts and a sea green polo shirt with black Converse. Evie walked up behind him wearing a light pink dress with sparkling ballet flats. Her brown hair was curled and resting gracefully on her shoulders.

"Hey. You guys look amazing." Replied Sirena.

Evie grinned. "You don't look too bad yourselves."

The three girls smiled.

Rob and Lauren walked up behind their son and his girlfriend. The group exchanged greetings and introductions. Lauren invited them all to go sit down at the table on the deck.

Mimmi caught up to Lauren as they were walking to the table.

"I got this for you." She said, handing her the small light blue box with a white ribbon on it.

"Oh darling, you didn't have to get me anything." Lauren exclaimed as the two stopped walking. The group kept walking, unbeknownst of what was happening behind them.

"I know, but I wanted to thank you for being so calm with all of this and for inviting us over for dinner." Mimmi said smiling.

Lauren returned the smile and undid the ribbon. Sitting inside was a bracelet made out of perfectly creamy pearls. Lauren gasped.

"I can't accept this! It must have cost you a fortune!"

Mimmi shook her head. "Not much at all, actually. I already had the pearls, because I found them long ago. I was waiting on doing a project with them and I decided to make a bracelet. I took it to a local jeweler and he just strung them all together."

Lauren smiled even brighter and hugged Mimmi. They then walked up to the rest of the group who were sitting at the table. Lauren showed her husband the gift while they all made small talk.

"Rob." Lauren said suddenly. "Our guests don't have anything to drink." She gestured to their empty glasses. Rob apologized and went to get the pitcher full of water.

As he was walking back, he tripped on the hose that Lauren was using to water the plants when the guests arrived, and spilled the contents down Mimmi's back.

Surprise! What? Two chapters in a month? What is this sorcery? I felt bad for missing Mays upload so I decided to write a short chapter for all of you. But that cliffhanger though. What will happen to Mimmi? What will Rob and Lauren find out? Stay tuned for another chapter of Closer to the Truth. *dramatic music*

Anyways, thanks for the reviews and followers. I really do appreciate it.

~Moonlight Mermaids


	6. Chapter 6

Closer to the Truth ch. 6

Mimmi gasped in shock as the water poured down her back. Everyone around the table stopped and stared at the brunette who was now dripping wet. She shot an urgent glance at her brother, who could see the panic in her eyes. She quickly pushed back her chair before running to Zac's room. Zac too shot up and followed his sister. The adults looked at the teens sitting at the table with grim expressions written on their faces.

"What just happened?" Rob asked the girls.

Evie, Sirena and Ondina looked at one another, their eyes filled with worry. They all were questioning how they would be able to get out of this situation.

"Mimmi probably went to go dry off. She really hates wet clothing." Ondina lied.

Rob and Lauren both raised an eyebrow.

"And Zac went with her because…" Rob asked, still not convinced by the blue eyed girl's story.

This time, Ondina didn't have an explanation to give. She glanced helplessly at Evie and Sirena.

Evie helped her friend out. "You know, Zac just found out that Mimmi is his sister. Of course he is going to be overprotective. He is probably just making sure that she is okay."

This seemed to please the parents because they both nodded at this explanation. The girls both seem to physically relax. Lauren got up and refilled the water pitcher. She then suggested that they all continue their meals while they wait for the twins to reappear.

Meanwhile, the siblings where having their own conversation.

Mimmi ran as fast as she could into Zac's bedroom in the backyard. She quickly slammed the door, breathing hard as she laid against it. A moment later, her body completely became water. She transformed into her original self.

"Uhhhh." Mimmi groaned, as she slumped forward, her orange-gold tail slapping the floor.

A moment later, there was a knock at the door. Panicking because she didn't lock it, Mimmi used her powers to hold it in place. The doorknob began to jiggle.

"Mimmi, it's me." The person said. Mimmi sighed in relief at the sound of her brother's voice. "You can let go now. No one followed me."

This eased Mimmi's thoughts. She let her powers go and allowed her brother to enter.

Zac carefully opened the door to enter his room. He saw his sister sprawled out helplessly on his bedroom floor. Being careful not to step on her tail. Zac walked over and crouched next to Mimmi's face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes filled with worry at his sisters current situation.

Mimmi smiled. "I'm fine. These transformations don't get any easier though." She gestured at her tail. Zac winced at the memories of the countless times he has fallen due to his transformation.

"Don't I know it." He said with compassion in his voice.

Mimmi turned to start to steam dry her tail. Due to her awkward position, she was having a hard time reaching her fluke and the lower part of her tail.

Seeing his sister in a difficult situation, Zac decided to help her out, though watching her struggle was very amusing for him.

"Here, hold on. Let me help." He said smiling. Using his own powers, he finished drying off his sister's tail.

Once she was human again, she smiled in relief at her brother.

"Thanks." Mimmi said reaching up to Zac's now outstretched hand for him to help her up.

"Don't mention it. I'm sorry Mim. This isn't how I wanted this evening to play out." Zac explained when they were both standing.

"It is fine, but we should really be going back to the others. They will be starting to wonder where we went off too." Mimmi said with a sigh.

Zac nodded. "Let's go then. Don't want to keep everyone waiting now do we?" He opened the door to the backyard. They both walked out the bedroom to go meet up with the rest of their friends.

"Oh. Look whose back." Lauren said, seeing the twins return to the table.

"Everything sorted you two? Rob asked the twins with a smile on his face.

"All dry." Said a grinning Zac.

"I'm really sorry for what happened Mimmi. I really should be more careful." Rob said frowning.

"It's quite alright." Mimmi replied picking up her glass of water.

"I've noticed that you don't particularly like getting wet." Lauren said to the brunette.

Mimmi's eyes went wide. She wondered what they thought of her.

"Ummm, I have never been the biggest fan of water. I never liked swimming and I just don't want anything to do with water." Mimmi lied.

This caused Evie to smile and shake her head. Anyone who really knew Mimmi and knew her secret would know that she was lying through her teeth.

Rob caught sight of Evie's strange behavior and asked "Why, did something happen?"

"Dad." Zac jumped in, not wanting to put Mimmi in a difficult situation. "You wouldn't like it if someone was trying to pry into your fears, now would you." He gave Rob a hard stare.

"Oh, um, yeah. I'm sorry Mimmi. I didn't want to put you on the spot."

"It's fine." Mimmi said, digging into the food that was in front of her.

Seeing Mimmi's uncomfortableness, Sirena decided to change the subject.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. Aquata surprised me with a trip to Hawaii!"

This seemed to lighten up the previously dim mode.

"That's awesome Siena! I went there one year for summer break with my dad. You will love it. The water is beautiful and there are so many sea creatures. I went scuba diving there once. That was before, um, yeah." Evie replied, looking down at her legs.

"Who is Aquata?" Lauren asked the cheerful girl.

"She is my sister. She lived far away and she just recently came back to this area." Sirena explained.

"Oh that will be fun. You know, Rob and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. It is simply magical." Lauren said in a singsong tone.

"She's right. You will love it there." Rob nodded at his wife.

"When are you leaving?" Ondina asked, biting into her lobster tail, shell and all.

Rob and Lauren shared a horrifying look at Ondina's way of eating seafood. The rest of the group just passed it on as the norm.

"In three days. I know it is short noticed, but Aquata surprised me with them yesterday." Sirena answered.

They teens all nodded, sad to see their friend leaving so soon, but they knew that this was an amazing opportunity for her. They were all going to miss the cheerful blonde dearly though.

The rest of the meal went off without a hitch and they all went home happy.

And with that, I am done. I don't really like this chapter too much. It's not really how I wanted it to go. What do you think? I am going to start to put in some of season 3 now. So look out for that. :)

~Moonlight Mermaids


	7. Chapter 7

Mimmi, Ondina and their newest friend Weilan, walked into the Ocean Café. After the stressful meeting of the Western mermaid, Mimmi was eager to try to make her feel as comfortable as possible in her new surroundings. Ondina on the other hand, was still upset with the boat disaster that almost exposed mermaids to land people earlier that day. Luckily, David already knew their secret and was only trying to help Amaris get free from the net that she was trapped in before his brother could see the poor mermaid. Weilan, well, she didn't know that. Using her mermaid powers, she pushed David away from the trapped mermaid so she could free her, and David flew through the air. Ondina, who was watching nearby, was not at all happy with Weilan's methods. After a bitter meeting back at Rita's they all decided to go to the Ocean Café to meet everyone before the full moon ceremony could start.

"Hey everyone." Mimmi greeted. She introduced everyone to Weilan and they all sat down.

Carly came up and asked if they were ready to order. Mimmi introduced her to Weilan too.

"I'm guessing that you're another, um." Carly stopped and made a swimming motion in the air.

Weilan looked confused. "Is that some type of secret code?" she asked.

Carly looked at Mimmi for an explanation.

"Yes, Weilan is a mermaid." She offered.

This seemed to please Carly for she smiled and looked satisfied that she figured it out.

"Is there anyone here who doesn't know about mermaids?" Weilan asked.

Evie smiled. "Yes, but those who do, we trust completely."

Weilan smiled and turned to Mimmi.

"So I'm judging from your accent that you are not from around here?"

Mimmi nodded. "I'm from the Northern Pod, but I've been here since I was very young."

"Why don't you have a pod?" Ondina asked harshly.

Weilan's eyes turned sad as she looked away. This made everyone feel awkward.

Evie decided to break the silence by asking "shouldn't we be going? We don't want to be late."

The girls stood up. Zac hugged his girlfriend before saying "have fun out there."

"Don't worry." Mimmi told her brother. "We will bring her back safe and sound."

The three mermaids turned and began to leave the café. They stopped suddenly as two new figures walked through the front entrance. Rob and Lauren Blakely had arrived.

"Hi everyone. How are you tonight?" Lauren asked as she walked up to the table.

"Hi mum, dad. What are you guys doing here?" Zac asked.

Mimmi glanced at him worryingly. The full moon ceremony would be starting soon and they really had to go.

"Oh you know, we were just coming here to eat dinner. Your father was craving a burger." Lauren explained with a smile.

"Well, they do have really good burgers here. Sorry to cut this chat short, but we really have to go." Ondina said, motioning to the door with her head.

Rob followed this motion. "Oh, where are you going so late at night?"

"We are going to meet up with some of Ondina's family." Evie lied convincingly.

"Are these the same people who raised you Mimmi?" Lauren asked.

"Um yeah. They are back in town and we are just going to say hi." Mimmi explained.

"Oh, well we would love to meet them. Is it okay if we come too?" Rob asked.

He and his wife were discussing earlier about meeting some of Mimmi's family. They were trying to incorporate her more into their lives.

"No!" Ondina yelled, scaring the two adults. "I mean, they are kind of far out and I know how hungry you both are. Maybe next time."

"Um okay." Lauren said, still in shock of what just happened. "Have fun you three."

The girls smiled and quickly rushed out of the room.

Rob and Lauren glanced at each other and sat down at the table, just now noticing Weilan.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Blakely, Zac's father and this is my wife Lauren." Rob said, reaching his hand out to the new girl.

"I'm Weilan. I just moved here." She said, shaking the adult's hands.

"Are you staying with Principle Santos too?" Lauren asked, obviously wanting to start up a conversation.

"Yeah. She spent some time in Shanghai with my grandmother, so I'm here visiting."

"Oh, how interesting, I've always wanted to visit there. What's it like?" Rob questioned the Chinese mermaid.

Weilan shrugged and told them of her home. Zac and Cam both listen to her describe the beautiful land.

When she was done, Cam checked his phone before putting it down. "Nothing from David."

He turned to the Blakely's. "We were supposed to have a card game to help him get his mind off of Sirena." He then turned to Zac "I guess it's just you and me."

Zac chucked.

"Come on, lets' play some cards." Cam advised.

Zac didn't seem to hear him because he was sharing a vision with Mimmi. He saw a dragon made out of water through her eyes.

The rest of the table noticed his blank expression.

"You okay?" Cam asked. Rob and Lauren looked with fear at their son.

"Mimmi's in danger." Zac said in a soft voice, still in the vision.

"What?" Weilan questioned, her voice full of concern.

"It looks, like a dragon." Zac answered.

Rob and Lauren exchanged horrifying glances as Weilan sighed.

"Oh no." She said.

"Zac, what's going on?" questioned a fearful Lauren.

Cam decided to help his friend. "He is just playing around. He and Mimmi like to joke and say that because they are twins, they have twin telepathy. Ohhh." Cam said, waving his arms like a ghost.

Zac, ever so grateful for his friend's quick thinking, decided to play along.

"Yeah. It was just a joke." He said.

Rob decided to let loose a nervous chuckle. "Well Zac, you certainly fooled us there."

"Haha, yeah. Um, I'm going to go get some air real quick. It's kind of warm in here." Zac said, rushing out of the room.

"Is he alright?' Rob asked Cam.

"Yeah, he just gets really hot sometimes. He will be back soon. Anyways, who's hungry?"

"I am, but I am just going to use the ladies room real quickly. Excuse me." Weilan said, getting up from the table. She walked to the back of the café where the restrooms were and peered over at the table. The adults were looking deeply at the menu. Cam caught her eyes and motioned her to go.

She quickly raced after Zac and hesitated as she saw him dive into the water. Taking a deep breath, Weilan dove in too.

Both mermaid and merman raced to get to their friends.

Meanwhile, Ondina and Mimmi were doing the best that they could with the dragon. Their moon rings glowed through the darkness and the power shot at the dragon. Irritated, the dragon blew a stream of smoke from its mouth and when it looked like it was going to strike, a flash of light blinded it.

A nearby fishing boat was also looking for the dragon. The girls knew that that boat belonged to David's older brother Joe. The dragon dove into the water and over to the boat. The girls released their moon ring power.

Zac and Weilan finally arrived at the scene and saw the water dragon at David's boat.

"What is that?" Zac asked.

"We've got to go." Weilan said in an urgent voice.

Evie protested though saying "David's on that boat."

Weilan held her ground. "He'll be fine."

"Are you kidding? Look at that thing."Ondina exclaimed.

"It doesn't want land people. Only mermaids." Weilan commented.

Mimmi asked "how do you know?"

"There is no time. We have to warn your pod." Cried Weilan.

All of the merfolk present dove under the water, but Weilan remained. She looked at the water dragon with fear and disgust before joining her new friends.

The water dragon roared once before shrinking back in the water.

After a meeting at Rita's and the realization that the dragon is a huge threat to the pod, Zac returned home.

Opening the door to his bungalow, he walked inside before turning around and shutting the door, He rest his head against the wood and sighed deeply.

"Well look whose finally home." A deep voice said behind him.

Spinning around, he saw his mum and dad sitting on his couch.

"Hi. What are you guys doing?" he asked.

"Waiting for you to return. Where did you go?" His mother asked.

"Oh, I just forgot that I needed to pick something up at home for David. I needed to return his Biology book." Zac lied, looking down.

"Now why is it that I don't believe you?" Lauren asked her son.

"Believe what you want. I can't change what you think." Zac said shrugging.

Sighing Rob stood up to meet his son. "Zac, you do you that you can talk to us. You don't need to keep secrets anymore. Whatever it is, you can tell us." Rob placed a hand on his sons shoulder.

Zac sighed and walked away from his parents.

They looked at each other and left the bungalow.

Zac looked at the door after his parent's closed it and shook his head. What on earth is he going to do?

And that concludes chapter 7. I decided to use the first episode from season three, "A Visit from the East" and throw my own spin on it? How did I do? Thanks for all the love and support

~Moonlight Mermaids


	8. Chapter 8

Zac tried to avoid his parents the following day. He knew that they would have loads of questions for him, but he really didn't have the energy to come up with a lie to try and put them off of his trail. All he wanted to do was to focus on the new threat that has the entire Southern mermaid pod worried. What was he going to do with the water dragon? He had no idea what to do with something like that. It wasn't like he could use the trident to stop it. It had been completely destroyed after the fight in the merman chamber when Mimmi used it to bring him back to life and restore his powers back to him. Even if there was some way to bring back the trident, Zac was pretty sure that the mermaid counsel wouldn't be happy with that. After all, they had just returned to Mako.

Sighing, Zac paced around his bungalow. It just didn't seem fair to him. First he was turned into a merman, then he had to deal with the whole trident situation, now this. It was exhausting for him. He just wanted to finish school with his friends and learn about his merfolk history. He really didn't feel like cramming a huge water dragon into his already hectic schedule.

Zac stopped pacing and sat down on his couch, putting his head in his hands. This was starting to give him a headache. And it wasn't like he could talk to many people about his situation. Sure, the mermaids were really helpful, but sometimes, he just needed to talk to…

…Talk to another merman.

That, that is what was bothering him the most. He only met one other merman and most of the times, Erik was less than helpful. He really didn't know much about his true identity. He tried asking Mimmi, but she didn't know much. She did give him the knowledge that his birth father was a merman. That is the only way he and Mimmi could have been born. Like his sister told him, when a mermaid and a merman mates, they could get either a boy or a girl or sometimes, in their case, both.

That was why it was so shocking to everyone when they found out that Mimmi was his twin. That means that his birth mother, Nerissa, had to have broken a huge rule by being with a merman. When he was born, she knew that she would have to give him up. She couldn't have swam in with a baby boy and girl and everything would have been fine. She broke thousands of years of tradition.

It would have been fine with just Mimmi though. The pod wouldn't have batted an eye when she was born. Every other mermaid in their pod was born under the power of the full moon. And mermen were born by a land girl and a merman. He was… different. There wasn't someone like him that he knew. And this made it really hard to relate to someone.

Groaning, he pushed off the couch and looked out his window. The sea was calling him again, and he really wanted to listen to it. He always felt better after a swim. It calmed him down and made him forget about all of his problems. He could just be free and enjoy life without having to deal with anything.

But his parents would have asked him where he was. He had no excuse this time. All of his friends were busy. Cam had a doctor's appointment and his doctor was, you guessed it, his dad. Evie was going to see her grandmother for the weekend. His parents knew about this because her dad asked Zac to water their plants while they were gone. Carly and David were both working at the café, Mimmi was working at the Marine Park, Ondina was teaching the younger mermaids and he didn't know Weilan that well.

He could start his history assignment that was due in two days…

Or he could play video games until his friends were home. Option two seemed like a better idea.

Hours had passed before he knew it. He must have fallen asleep because he was awoken by a soft knock on his door.

Blinking sleep out of his eyes, he mumbled "Come in."

A smiling brunette opened the door. Mimmi was home from work.

"Oh hey sis. What's up?" Zac asked, sitting up on the couch that he must have fallen asleep on. His video game was still playing on his TV.

"Hello." Mimmi greeted cheerfully as she walked inside. Zac reached over and grabbed the remote, shutting off his video game.

"How was work?" Zac asked.

"It was… interesting." She said, sitting down on the couch next to her brother.

Mimmi recalled the events that happened that day with some of her coworkers going to Mako to see if they could find the water dragon. Zac seemed very concerned of Chris being in the moon pool with Ondina, but Mimmi assured him that with the help of Weilan, they were able to convince Chris and his friend Karl, that the water dragon was actually a water sprout. Zac laughed at the clever idea his friends came up with to put the Marine Park workers off of their trail.

"Anyways, do you want to go for a swim? They reef looks beautiful today. Besides, the fresh air will do you good." His sister said, noticing that Zac was gazing out the window at the sea.

Zac nodded and stood up from the couch. He put his hand out and helped Mimmi up. Together, they raced out of the bungalow and ran off the dock, diving into the crisp blue water. Little did they know, Zac's parents were watching them through the window.

After they broke through the water, Zac and Mimmi both sighed in relief as they felt their transformation took place. Zac looked down at his dark blue tail and smiled. He looked over at his twin, who was looking at a shell on the ocean floor. Her golden-orange tail sparkled from the sunlight. Her dark brown hair floated gracefully around her.

Zac flicked his tail and swam up beside her. She showed him the shell that she was looking at and smiled. She placed the shell back on the sandy floor and motioned her brother to come with her. With a flick of their tails, they were off.

Using their super speed, the twins sped through the water, leaving the human world behind them.

Zac and Mimmi reached the moon pool within a matter of minutes. Zac, who was slightly faster than his sister, surfaced first. He took a deep breath of air and shook his wet hair out of his eyes. He turned and waited for his sister to appear.

"No fair! You totally cut me off at the edge of the reef!" Mimmi exclaimed when she surfaced in the moon pool. She too brushed a lock of hair away from her eyes and then glared at her brother.

Zac smirked at her comment. "I did not. You just can't face the fact that I am faster than you even though you have been swimming with your tail your entire life. I won fair and square."

Mimmi huffed and swam to the edge of the pool, her back turned to her brother as she pouted.

"Someone's a sore loser." Zac said laughing as he flicked water at his sister with his tail.

Mimmi let out a squeak as the water hit her back. Turning sharply around, she used her tail to splash her brother back. This escalated quickly. Pretty soon, the son and daughter of Nerissa were having a full out water fight. Using their skilled powers, the two merfolks were conjuring huge water balls to drop on each other.

Mimmi, who has had more practice with her powers, soon outnumbered her brother. She caused a huge water ball to drop on her brothers head, forcing him under the water.

Once he emerged, he was gasping for air.

"Fine. I surrender. You win." Zac said, breathing hard.

"Yes! I am victorious! Bow down to me all creatures of the deep!" Mimmi yelled, thrusting both of her arms up in the air in a winner stance.

Zac snorted at his sister's action. "You win this time little sis, but I will beat you one day. Just mark my words."

Mimmi smiled. "In your dreams." She teased, sticking out her tongue.

Zac let loose a laugh. His sister was right. This was exactly what he needed. He didn't have to worry about anything. He could just relax.

Mimmi picked up his nervous energy that still remained with him though.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem… off." She asked, swimming up next to him.

She placed a wet hand on his shoulder. Zac glanced at her hand and then looked into her eyes. He really didn't want to turn the relaxing mood sour. But he knew Mimmi. Once she knew that something was bothering him, she wouldn't let it go. It was one of the things he loved and hated about her. She was always willing to help him, even if he didn't want any help.

Seeing his face full of worry, Mimmi threw her arms and hugged her brother. Zac tensed up at the slightest, but soon returned the hug. He buried his nose in Mimmi's salty hair and held her tight. He knew that she would do anything in her power to try and help him.

After a few moments, he pulled back and looked at his sister in the eyes. She was really worried about him. She motioned to the sand outside of the moon pool and swam to the side. She grabbed the edge and pulled herself up and out of the water. She dragged her tail over the sand and began to dry her tail. Zac watched as she turned back into a land girl. She was wearing a black tank top with jeans and black flats. Her brown hair lay gracefully on her shoulders.

Mimmi patted the sand, a motion for Zac to follow her. Sighing, Zac pulled himself out of the moon pool and pulled himself next to his sister. He reached his hand out and began to dry off his tail. Using her own powers, Mimmi helped her brother dry off. Soon he was completely dry and was sitting on the sand wearing an old t-shirt, some basketball shorts and a pair of Converse.

Mimmi leaned onto her brother and placed her head on his shoulder. Zac slung an arm around her and sighed.

"Will you please tell me what is bothering you? Maybe I could try and help. If it's about the water dragon, I …"

"It's not just about the water dragon." Zac interrupted his sister. Mimmi sat back and looked at her brother.

"Then what else could be bothering you? Is it Evie?" Mimmi asked.

Zac rolled his eyes. "No sis, Evie and I are totally fine."

"Then what is it?"

Zac flopped down on the sand and stared up at the sky through the hole in the volcano. He sighed deeply. Mimmi poked his side with a finger.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

Zac slapped her hand away lightly and turned his head to look at his sister. She raised her eyebrows and waited for his explanation.

Zac sighed again and put his hand over his eyes.

"It's just, I wish I knew more about my merman history. I feel so useless sometimes. I don't have a moon ring and I wish that I had something to help you guys defeat the water dragon. I don't know what kind of skills I possess. It's just hard sometimes, you know?"

Mimmi was taken aback for a moment. She had no clue that her brother felt so troubled with this whole merman stuff. She really didn't know how she would help him, but she knew that she had to try.

"Hey, maybe I can ask Veridia if she knows anything. It really wouldn't hurt to ask." Mimmi suggested. With his eyes still under his hand, Zac smiled.

"Thanks sis. I would really like that."

Mimmi smiled too.

Zac's shorts pocket buzzed. He sat up and pulled his phone out of his pocket to see that he had a new message. Unlocking his phone, he looked at it. It was a message from his father.

 **Dad: Home. Now.**

Zac showed the message to Mimmi who was not standing over his shoulder.

 **Zac: I'll be home soon.**

Zac sent the message and looked at his sister.

"I better go. I don't want to make them mad." He told her. Mimmi nodded.

Zac stood up and dove into the water. Mimmi remained on land still. She was going to sit there and think for a little while longer.

Zac surfaced and turned to his sister. "Mimmi?"

The brunette looked at her brother.

"Thanks for today. I really enjoyed it." Zac said with a small smile.

Mimmi matched the smile. "Anytime."

Zac nodded and dove under the water, making the short voyage to land.

Mimmi sat back on her hands and looked up at the sky. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, thinking of what to do next.

Sibling bonding! Can you just picture Zac and Mimmi having a huge water fight in the moon pool? Zac is taking the whole merman thing pretty hard and Mimmi is there to help him get through it. Rob seemed to be a little upset in his message. I wonder why?

Thanks for all the love and support! xoxo

~Moonlight Mermaids


	9. Chapter 9

Zac walked into his bungalow to find his parents waiting for him. They were both standing in the middle of his room with their arms crossed.

"Good evening Zac." His mother said. Zac noticed the bitter tone in her voice.

"Mum. Dad. What's up?" Zac asked, nonchalantly.

"Sit down Zac. We have a lot to talk about." Rob said gesturing to the couch. Zac took the hint and sat down. His mother sat next to him and his father sat on the chair next to them.

"Zac, your mother and I are very concerned about your recent behavior."

"Your dad is right. You are not acting like yourself lately. You've changed honey. You seem to have a change of interest lately and to be completely honest, it is starting to worry us. I mean, going through change is perfectly normal for a boy your age, but you seemed to have changed overnight." Lauren explained, putting her hand on Zac's knee.

"I-I don't know what you mean." Zac mumbled.

"I think you know exactly what we are talking about. First you quit the swim team, which is totally fine with us. But then you quit your job as a lifeguard and start acting so weird. And then these girls show us and…"

"Those girls are my friends." Zac interrupted his father. "And they have done nothing wrong."

"Do you mean to tell me that those girls have nothing to do with your recent changes?" Lauren asked.

This took Zac back a little. "Changes? What changes?" Zac asked carefully. He wondered what they knew.

"Would you care to explain to us why you and your sister jumped off the dock and into the water fully clothed this afternoon?" Rob questioned his son.

Zac's eyes widened. "You saw that? Why were you spying on us?" Zac practically yelled, standing up. His parents looked at each other.

"We weren't spying on you honey. We were just looking out the window when we saw you two jump in. I admit, we did follow you to see where you went, but you both didn't resurface. We were worried about you. We called Evie to ask her where you two would have gone to, but she told us not to worry. Why is it that she seems to know more about you than we do?" Lauren asked her son.

Zac walked away from his parents and walked up to his window. He stared out onto the sea. The sun was starting to set. He wondered what his friends were doing right now.

A hand was placed on Zac's shoulder. Zac jumped and looked over at his mother.

Lauren sighed. "Zac, please talk to us. We are worried about you. It's not like you to keep secrets from us."

Rob nodded as he walked up behind his wife and looked at his son. "If this whole thing is about finding out that you are adopted, we can…" Rob started.

"No, I'm not upset about that. I've just gone through some changes recently that I really don't want to talk about right now." Stated Zac.

"It just doesn't make any sense. You look perfectly healthy and I know that you would talk to someone if things were wrong mentally. Heck, you tell Evie everything and she would tell us if anything was wrong." Rob said with a sigh.

"You know, it all started with that night you and Cam went camping on Mako Island. Ever since that night, things have been off with you." Lauren stated.

Zac took a step back and looked at his parents. Thoughts raced through his head. He could just tell them everything. But he would be putting everyone he loved in danger. Land people would jump at the opportunity of merfolk. No one would be safe. The pod would have to leave Mako again. His sister would have to leave too. And what about him? He could either leave everyone he loves and go with the pod, or he could stay where he was and be experimented on. His life would never be the same either way. Nope, telling his parents was not an option. But lying to those he loved was starting to take a toll on Zac. It was exhausting, but it was the only way to keep his family in the sea safe.

Lauren and Rob could both see that their son having an internal conversation with himself. And whatever it was, it really seem to be bothering him.

"Zac? Are you okay?" Lauren asked Zac.

Zac looked at his parents. They could see the fear in his eyes. Fear and uncertainty. But what was causing these emotions were a complete mystery to his parents. They didn't know what to do. They haven't dealt with anything like this before. It wasn't like Zac to keep secrets from them. He was usually pretty open with them.

"Look, I'm pretty tired. Can we continue this conversation tomorrow?" Zac asked his parents. He was so done with today.

His parents looked at each other and shrugged. There was no use trying to pry the problem out of their son at this hour. Both of his parents bid him goodnight before they exited the bungalow.

Zac changed into his sleepwear, brushed his teeth and went straight to bed. He fell asleep almost instantly.

Meanwhile, Rob and Lauren were sitting at the table, trying to discuss the recent events.

"You don't think that he is in danger, do you?" Lauren asked her husband.

"I doubt it. Zac is a good kid. Besides, it's not like he is the kind of teen that goes looking for trouble." Rob said, trying to comfort his wife.

"Maybe we should call somebody. Someone like Principal Santos. Zac is always spending time at her house due to her nieces living there. Maybe she would know something. It wouldn't hurt to ask."

"I don't know. Would she still be up?" Rob asked looking at the clock. It was going on 10:00pm and it was a school night.

"It wouldn't hurt to try." Lauren stood up and picked up the home phone. After the dinner party, Principal Santos gave them their home number just in case they needed to call one of the girls. Weilan was the only one who had a cellphone out of the three girls.

Dialing the number, Lauren waited for someone to answer the phone. On the third ring, a feminine voice answered.

"Hello, Santos residence. Weilan speaking."

"Weilan, hi. It's Lauren Blakely, Zac's mum. We met at the café. I was wondering if Rita was there?"

"Oh, Hi. Umm, I believe she is still awake. Hold on let me check." Rumbling came from the other side of the line. It sounded like Weilan was going up some stairs and through a sliding door of some sort. Lauren could faintly hear the girl say "Shoo Poseidon, those are my prawns. You already had your dinner." More noise came from the phone as some people were having a conversation.

Finally, Rita answered the phone. "Good evening Lauren. What can I help you with?"

"I was wondering if you knew what was going on with Zac." Lauren asked hesitantly. Rob listened closely to the conversation.

"Something is wrong with Zac? I haven't noticed any strange behavior lately. Why? What happened?"

"It's just, Zac seems different. He is always gone and his personality has changed. Rob and I believe that he is hiding something from us. He always seems to be at your house hanging out with your nieces, and we were just wondering if you had any explanation to this strange behavior?"

"Zac's a teenager Lauren. Every parent believes that their child is hiding something from them. From what I have observed, Zac is a perfectly normal kid." Rita answered, trying to put the merman's mother off track.

"Rob has some questions too, if you don't mind."

Rita sighed on the other end. "I'll tell you what. Zac was planning to come to my house tomorrow after school to hang out with my nieces. Why don't you and Rob stop by and have dinner with all of us. Then we can get all questions answered while having a nice meal. How does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect. We will come by after school and have a talk then. Thank you Rita." Lauren said.

"Have a goodnight Lauren. And don't worry. Everything will be fine."

The two women hung up their phones.

Back at the Santos house, Rita turned to Weilan.

"Text Zac for me. Tell him the plan and encourage him to come up with as many excuses as he can. Tomorrow will surely be an interesting day."

 **Okay, here's the thing. I have been in writers block for a while now, and I am finally getting out of it. That is why there is two chapters today. My fingers kept flowing so I was like hey, why not make the most of it and post two chapters in one day. I hope you like this one.**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	10. Chapter 10

Zac woke up the next morning to the sound of the waves crashing against the dock. Opening his eyes, Zac let loose a yawn, sat up and stretched. He looked over at his alarm clock to check the time. It was only 6:25 in the morning. He never got up this early on a school day, or any day for that matter. School didn't start for another two hours. He would have to get up in an hour to start getting ready. Usually, he would just fall back asleep, but today, he was wide awake. He looked out the window and at the sea. The sun was just beginning to rise, and he had a strange urge to go swimming. Being a merman, he always seemed to feel at home in the water. But today, that sensation was really strong.

Shrugging, Zac decided to get ready early and go for a swim. He got dressed and brushed his teeth, getting ready for the day. He decided to grab something from the café on his way to school. He reached over and grabbed his phone from his bedside table. He was going to text Evie and see if she was up and if was wanted to go for a swim, but when he opened his phone, he saw that he had a message from Weilan. They exchanged numbers in the café on the night of the water dragon. She texted him an hour after he fell asleep.

 **Weilan: What happened with your parents today? Your mum called Rita and asked her if she knew what was going on with you. Don't worry, she is handling it. But, she did invite your parents over for dinner tomorrow after school to talk about you. So be there. If not, I will personally feed you to the water dragon next full moon.**

Zac smiled at the last sentence. But he seriously doubted that Weilan was joking. He saw that she texted him again a few minutes later.

 **Weilan: Also, what did you get for question 7 on the Biology packet that Ms. Trouble gave us? I swear she is trying to kill us with these packets. :(**

Zac sent her a quick text back.

 **Zac: I haven't done it yet. Planning on doing it before school starts. I will be at Rita's though.**

He doubted that she will respond though. She was still probably sleeping. He put his phone in his pocket and ran out of his bungalow and into the water.

Meanwhile, Mimmi was just waking up. She yawned and opened her eyes, looking out through the cone of the volcano as she drifted on her back in the moon pool. She sunk her tail into the water and looked around the moon pool. Ondina was still sleeping. She had one arm on her stomach and her other arm was trailing in the water, keeping her afloat.

Shaking her head, Mimmi decided to let her best friend sleep while she went to gather breakfast. Ondina and Mimmi both decided that whoever woke up first, would go and get breakfast. Mimmi was usually the first one up, so she was the one to go and get food the majority of the time. But she was fine with it. She liked being out early in the morning. She loved watching the sun hit the water as it rose.

Swimming out of the moon pool, Mimmi went to where she knew there would be a patch of oysters for breakfast. She swam gracefully through the water, letting the sun warm her scales as she swam closer to the surface. She broke through the water and looked at the sky. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. She dove back under and went to find something to eat.

Zac on the other hand, was going in the same direction as his sister without knowing it. He was gliding over a patch of coral when he saw a glint of something that golden-orange. He shook the bubbles away from his eyes and peered at the figure. He smiled when he saw his sister gathering some oysters. She had no clue that her brother was even there. Zac decided to have some fun with his sister.

He swam over and grabbed the edge of her fin, pulling her backwards slightly.

Mimmi yelped in surprise, the yelp only being a stream of bubbles escaping from her lips, and dropped the armful of oysters she was collecting.

She looked surprised at first, seeing who pulled her tail, but her surprise soon turned into anger. She glared at her brother, who was floating on his back, clenching his sides. He was laughing and bubbles were escaping from his mouth. Mimmi crossed her arms and continued to glare at him. Oh the things that made him laugh.

After Zac got over his laughing fit, he smiled warmly at his sister, who rolled her dark blue eyes in response. But she couldn't be mad at him, so she soon smiled back.

Zac dove down to the sea floor and began to pick up the oysters that Mimmi dropped. She went over to help her brother. Soon, they gathered all of the oysters and headed back to the moon pool.

Ondina was still asleep when they arrived. The siblings swam to the edge of the moon pool and placed their findings on the edge. Mimmi picked up a sharp rock that laid nearby and used it to crack open an oyster. She ate the oyster's contents before putting the shell down and reaching for another one. Zac watched his sister. So this is how mermaids spend their mornings. Collecting food and just hanging out.

Mimmi saw that her brother had not grabbed an oyster yet. She reached out an oyster for her brother to take, but he just shook his head. Zac didn't want to be rude and eat her breakfast, but his stomach had other plans. It made a loud noise and indicated that he was in fact, very hungry. Mimmi raised an eyebrow and looked at her brother. Zac grinned sheepishly and accepted the oyster. He cracked open it and slurped it down.

"So." Mimmi said after her third oyster. Zac looked over at his sister. She was leaning up against the side of the moon pool, her tail sunk deep under the water.

"What's new with you?" she asked.

Zac groaned and placed his head back, staring up at the sky. "My parents asked me all sorts of questions yesterday of why I'm so distant recently."

"And what did you tell them?" Mimmi questioned.

Zac sighed. "I didn't tell them the truth if that is what you are implying. I just told them that I am going through some changes right now, which is not technically a lie." Zac answered, gesturing at his tail with his hand, his eyes still fixed on the sky.

"It's not technically the truth either." Mimmi said in a whisper a moment later.

Zac turned to look at Mimmi. She was looking down at the water, her fingers training though it.

"What am I supposed to say? Hey Mum and Dad. Don't freak out, but I'm really a fish. That's why I have been acting so weird lately. Every time I touch water, I grow a tail. Oh and there is a whole other world in the sea that if filled with people just like me." He gave a look at his sister, but Mimmi's eyes still remained focus on the water.

"You're not a fish. You're a merman." She said quietly.

Zac sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not saying that you tell them now, but don't completely shut them out of your life. They are worried about you Zac. We all are. You've been through a lot recently and we just want what's best for you. But you got to help us." Mimmi said, placing a hand on his arm. She finally looked up from the water.

"What am I supposed to do to help?" Zac asked.

"Come up with a better excuse then 'I've changed.' Give them something that will ease their minds. Say that you are just trying to figure out where you came from. Say that the realization that you are adopted has made you want to learn about your birth heritage, which is true. You do want to learn more about being a merman. And I will be right there to help you." Mimmi explained.

"You are coming to dinner tonight?" Asked Zac.

Mimmi smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Thanks sis." Zac said, smiling at Mimmi.

"Will you please shut up? Some of us are still trying to sleep!" A voice cried from the other side of the moon pool. Ondina was now awake, but her eyes were still closed.

"It's time to get up anyways. I already collected breakfast and if you don't get up soon, Zac and I will eat all the oysters." Mimmi called over to her best friend.

A groan was the response Ondina gave.

Zac smiled and decided to give the friends some alone time. He heard countless times from Mimmi how hard it was to get Ondina up, and he really didn't want to be there to meet a grumpy mermaid. He slipped out of the moon pool and headed for shore. Now to get through school.

 **Yay! Sibling bonding! Do you guys want me to start adding more characters P.O.V. or do you want me to keep it between Zac and Mimmi?**

 **I start school in a week so… yay me…**

 **I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for all the support. I'm going to go and eat my ice cream now and pet my cat.**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	11. Chapter 11

After school, Zac walked home with Weilan. They were discussing the latest history test that they took that day on the way to Rita's. Zac had listened to Mimmi's advice from that morning and came up with a few excuses to tell his parents to explain his odd behavior. Right now, telling them that he was a merman was not an option.

"Zac?" Weilan asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

Zac blinked a few times and focused on the Chinese mermaid.

"Yeah? Sorry, I zoned out there for a minute. What were you saying?"

"I was asking you what you got for number 27 on the test." She asked.

"Oh, yeah. I don't remember. Sorry." Zac looked at the street and kicked a rock in front of him.

Weilan looked at him with worry. "Are you okay? You seem distracted today. Are you nervous about meeting your parents tonight?"

Zac stopped and looked at her. She stopped too and crossed her arms.

"I mean, of course I'm worried. My parents are not stupid. They know when something is wrong with me. It's just getting exhausting trying to come up with excuses lately."

Weilan put her hand on his arm. "Trust Rita. She will come up with something that will please your parents." She gave Zac a smile. "Come on. I heard that Ondina and Mimmi are trying to cook something besides seafood. I'll race you to Rita's."

With that, Weilan started to run, Zac behind her.

A few minutes later, they entered Rita's home, almost at the exact same time, Weilan wining by a few seconds due to her head start.

"Mimmi! Put the pasta in now!" Ondina screeched as they walked through the front door.

"No, we have to wait for the water to boil first!" Mimmi shot back.

"Well it's taking forever!" Ondina said and stuck her hand out to use her powers to speed up the process.

"Ondina no! We both agreed to make this dinner happen without magic!" Mimmi slapped her best friends hand down to stop the magic.

"Well they are going to be here soon, and the dinner is not yet done!" Ondina put her hand back out to resume heating the water.

"Hey guys." Zac said, trying to get the girls attention. But both girls did not seem to hear him.

"Ondina, you are boiling it too fast. The directions say to gradually boil it." Mimmi said exasperated.

"Guy?" Zac tried again.

"You and your directions. Just let me do what I want!" Ondina spead up the heating process.

"HELLO?!" Weilan shouted, scaring the two girls. Ondinas powers went out of control from the shock from being scared. She caused every liquid in the room to suddenly explode, dousing Mimmi and herself. Zac and Weilan quickly jumped back, avoiding the explosion.

Mimmi and Ondina both looked at each other and groaned before flopping over, their tails slapping the tile floor hard.

"Great. Look what you did." Ondina glared at Weilan.

"Me? If you two stopped bickering for one second we could have…" Weilan was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

"My parents! There here!" Zac cried. He glanced at the two mermaids, still sprawled out on Rita's floor.

"Right, Zac, distract them. Mimmi, use your moon ring to clean up this mess while I dry your tail. Ondina dry yourself off. This is not a drill. Go people, go!" Weilan clapped her hands and went over to help Mimmi. Zac raced down the stairs to meet his parents. Ondina and Mimmi did what they were told and soon the kitchen was spotless once again and the two mermaids were human.

And with good timing too. Zac couldn't delay his parents any longer and they just walked up the stairs when everything was back in order.

Mimmi, Ondina and Weilan all sat up from the floor.

"Hello." Mimmi said cheerfully, still slightly shaken by what just happen.

"Hello girls. How are you today? Happy it's the weekend?" Rob asked with a wave.

"Yes we are. Dinner isn't fully done yet. There was a slight accident with the pasta." Mimmi said apologetically.

"That's quite alright girls. Why don't you go and get changed for dinner. I'm sure I can finish it." Rita said, walking up to the group.

The three girls looked down. Mimmi was still wearing her uniform from the Marine Park. Ondina was wearing an old t-shirt and Weilan still had her book bag on. The smiled and excused themselves, heading to their "bedroom". Rita gave the girls a spare room to keep their clothes and personal belongings in. None of them slept there though. Mimmi and Ondina slept in the moon pool, while Weilan preferred the grotto.

Rita went and started the pasta, Lauren volunteering to help. Rob and Zac sat down on the couch and discussed the day.

The three girls appeared a few moments later. Ondina changed into a pink dress with palm trees on the front, Mimmi in a light blue shirt and jean shorts and Weilan in jeans and a dark red shirt. Nothing fancy, just plain and simply for a family dinner.

"Sorry about dinner Rita. It was our first time making pasta." Mimmi said. She nudged Ondina who also apologized.

"Girls, it's totally fine. You don't mind helping me with dinner, do you Lauren?" Rita turned to Zac's mother.

She smiled warmly at the three girls. "Not at all. I really didn't expect you girls to cook dinner tonight, so I am more than happy to help."

Rita turned away from the stove while Lauren placed the pasta in the now boiling water. "Will you please set the table?" She asked the three girls. They nodded and started to grab the necessary things for dinner.

They all sat down at the table. Rita sat at the head of the table while Weilan sat at the other end. Ondina sat next to Rita with Mimmi in the middle and Zac to her right. Across from Zac sat Rob with his wife in the middle and Evie to her left. Once they settled down, the conversations began.

"So how was your day at school?" Lauren asked the group of teenagers.

Zac looked at his mother.

"It was fine I guess. We had a surprise pop-quiz in math today, but it was fairly easy. Oh, and I got my Biology test back. 87%. My best grade yet. Thanks to the combine efforts of Evie and Weilan."

Evie smiled at her boyfriend while Weilan rolled her eyes.

"How about you two?" Rob questioned, turning to Ondina and Mimmi.

Both the girl's eyes widened. No one told Zac's parents that they didn't go to land school. They graduated mermaid school and both earned their moon rings. Thankfully, sensing their distress, Rita came to their rescue.

"Ondina and Mimmi are both homeschooled and does their classes online. They never went to public school before and I didn't realize how long they were staying so I didn't sign them up for Suncoast High."

Ondina and Mimmi smiled at the parents trying to convince them of the lie.

"Right…" Rob said slowly, not completely buying their story. "But you go to the high school. Right Weilan?"

Weilan looked up from her pasta, her chopsticks still in her mouth and some noodles dangling down from her chin. The entire table stared at her. Rita and Lauren in sympathy, Rob in shock, Mimmi and Evie rolled their eyes and and Zac and Ondina were both struggling to contain their laughter, but failing miserably. Weilan quickly slurped up the noodles and coughed once before answering.

"Um yeah. I went to a public school in Shanghai before I came here. I really didn't mind starting a new school so I joined Suncoast High."

"And how are you liking the school?" Rob asked. He was president of the school board so he was always interested in student's opinions of the school.

"It's fine. The students are all really nice and everything. Some teachers are… interesting." She was referring to Ms. Trumble, which made Zac and Evie smile. "My only complaint is that the food sucks."

Lauren chocked on the water she was drinking as she laughed. Mimmi reached across the table to swat Weilan's arm as Weilan grinned deviously.

"Did you hear that Principle Santos?" Rob asked laughing.

Rita smiled brightly. "Noted."

The laughter soon subsided and a silence filled the room. The teens knew that the adults were planning to start a more serious conversation.

Zac sighed and looked at his parents. "Okay, let's get this thing over with."

Lauren tried to look innocent. "Get what over, Zac?" she asked her son.

"The conversation. The real reason why we are all here on a Friday night for dinner. I'm pretty sure that you really don't want to talk about school, so start asking questions."

Rob and Lauren both looked defeated. Their son knew them both too well. They had never been able to hide anything from him.

"Okay fine. You got us. We just wanted to figure some things out and try to relate to you better."

Zac mumbled under his breath. "Good luck with that."

Mimmi, who was sitting next to her brother was the only one who could hear this remark. Her heart hurt for her brother. She could tell that he was upset. It was almost like she could feel his pain. She too felt… scared. She looked over at her twin. He was rubbing the back of his neck, the nervous habit he had. She felt a weird pressure on the back of her own neck as he rubbed his. As soon as he took his hand off his neck, the pressure instantly subsided.

Shocked, she closed her eyes and shook her head. She looked back at her brother, who was already staring at her. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, noticing her strange attitude. Mimmi gave him a look that could only say "later." Zac gave a slight nod, only visible to her.

"And that is why we are worried about you Zac." Lauren finished.

Mimmi gazed intensely at Lauren who was sitting across from her. Mimmi didn't even notice that she was talking. She must have completely zoned out and missed the entire conversation. How did that happen? She was always very attentive. Her heart was racing now, as she grew oddly warm. What else had she missed? What was happing to her? What was happening with Zac? A million thoughts raced across Mimmi's mind, freaking her out. What was going on?

A cool hand on her arm brought her back to reality. Mimmi jerked her head to her left to see Ondina staring at her. Ondina's blue eyes were wide, watching her best friend have a mini freak out. Ondina pointed at Rob with her other hand, still watching Mimmi carefully. The rest of the table also noticed Mimmi's strange behavior, but it was only Zac who felt the same confusion and fear that his sister felt.

Weilan cleared her throat and motioned Mimmi to talk.

"Sorry, I zoned out there for a moment. What did you say?"

"They wanted to know if what Zac said was correct." Supplied Rita.

Zac said something? When did that happen? Mimmi thought.

"Uh, what did you say again Zac?"

Evie tried to help the confused girl. "Zac said that the reason that he was acting so strange was the fact that you two were trying to find your biological family. And the reason that he has been so distance is that he didn't want to hurt their feelings. That is the reason why he is been acting weird, right Mimmi?"

So he took her advice about finding their birth families. Good. That is believable.

"Um, yeah. T-that's exactly what's happing. We are just t-trying to find our birth family. I-it's really no big deal. I assure you that- that everything is fine." She manage to stumble out.

The teens looked at each other. Mimmi never stumbled. She was always the confident one.

"Are you alright dear? You seem a little frazzled." Rob asked, his profession slowly creeping up.

Mimmi was once again zoned out. She was completely lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes were fixed on the centerpiece in the middle of the table. Her normally tanned complexion was paled at the slightest.

This was really starting to concern Zac. He placed his hand on her back. Mimmi snapped into focus as her gaze settled on Zac's concerned brown eyes.

Mimmi turned back to Rob. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired though. Would it be okay if I went to go lie down for a bit?" She was now addressing Rita. "I didn't get much sleep last night." Ondina and Weilan both knew that she was lying. She went to bed early the night before in the moon pool and Zac and Mimmi both got up at the same time. She got plenty of rest.

"Of course sweetheart. There is nothing wrong with going to bed early." Rita answered, obviously seeing the young girl in distress.

Mimmi smiled gratefully and excused herself from the table. The group watched as she left. She stumbled a bit as she walked towards the bedroom, but caught herself before she could fall. Dizzily, she pressed her hand to her head and entered the bedroom.

The table resumed conversation once she was gone.

"Are you sure she is alright? I could go and check on her if need be." Rob asked Rita.

"I'm sure she's fine. Just tired. You know that teenagers tend to stay up really late. And there is a stomach bug going around school. You of all people should know that Dr. Blakely." Rita smiled and looked at her students. They all saw that she was concerned, despite her efforts to look calm and put together.

Rob and Lauren left soon after the meal ended. Rob still wanted to check on Mimmi, but Rita assured him that she was okay. Evie too had to leave, due to her dad expecting her home soon. Zac stayed behind, saying that he wanted to talk to Rita about something for school.

As soon as they left, Zac went to go check on his sister, as the girls cleaned up dinner.

Zac knocked on the bedroom door lightly.

"Mimmi?" He asked quietly. There was no response. Zac knocked again. The door cracked open as Mimmi didn't close it all the way.

Zac entered the bedroom, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. It was painted a pale blue and had tiny sea shells as molding by the ceiling. Three twin beds were in the room, mainly just for show because none of the girls wanted to use them. Two were placed on the side walls while the third was placed against the back wall. A soft glow from a lamp light was the only light source in the room. The white curtains were closed to block the evening night sky.

Mimmi was sound asleep on the bed closest to the left wall. She changed into a pair of black sleep shorts and a lavender tank top. She was curled up in a ball, facing the wall, breathing deeply. Her chocolate brown hair was sprawled across the pillow and it covered some of her face.

She must have been really sleepy to fall asleep on land. Mimmi have complained to him how uncomfortable land beds were and how she much preferred the ocean to sleep on. Zac couldn't complain though. After turning into a merman, he to found his bed to sometimes be too much for him to sleep on. On those nights, he would sneak into the ocean and sleep until the sun woke him up. Mimmi told him that it was normal, and to not be alarmed.

Zac smiled at his sister before picking up a quilt from the end of her bed and carefully placing it over the sleeping girl. She moaned in her sleep and snuggled under the blanket. Zac reached up to brush a lock of hair away from her face, but as soon as his hand brushed against her skin, he placed it over her forehead. She was warm. Not uncomfortably warm, but still warmer than usual. Almost like she had a slight fever.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he also felt feverish.

Flinching, Zac pulled his hand away from his sister's forehead and stared down at it. Turning it over, he inspected it for anything abnormal. Nothing. But he still felt warm and almost… dizzy? Just like Mimmi had been during dinner.

He looked down at his sleeping sister's flushed face and pondered. What was going on with them?

"Zac?" a voice asked, startling him.

Dropping his hand, Zac quickly spun around to see Rita in the doorway. Her eyes were wide in shock. The twins were both very jumpy today and just not themselves.

"Yeah?" Zac asked in a shaky voice.

Rita still stared at him. She then flicked her eyes down at the sleeping Mimmi, than back up at Zac.

"Your mother just called. She wants you to come home before it gets too dark." Rita explained, steeping closer to Zac.

Zac nodded and looked back down at Mimmi.

Mimmi huffed in her sleep and curled deeper into a ball. She let out a sigh as she settled into her pillow.

"Zac? Are you okay?" Rita whispered, walking up next to Zac and looked down at Mimmi, as if following his gaze.

"I'm fine." Zac matched Rita's tone, not wanting to wake up his sister. "I'll see you tomorrow." He looked up at Rita, meeting her questioning eyes. "And um, she seems a bit warm. You might want to keep an eye on her."

Rita's eyes widened and her hand shot to Mimmi's forehead, feeling the girl's temperature.

"Huh, that's strange. Thanks Zac. I'll watch her. Now hurry home before your mum calls again."

Zac glanced at Mimmi's sleeping form one more time before bidding his goodbyes to Rita and leaving the house.

 **Guess whose back! *bows deeply* So sorry I haven't updated in a while. School started for me and it had been CRA-ZY! But I love it there and I am sooo glad to see all of my friends. I hope you liked this chapter because I had a blast writing it. I might have wrote it during my math class instead of paying attention, but no one has to know. *winks***

 **I've been getting a lot of mixed reviews for thinking of adding Rob and Lauren's P.O.V in the story. To all those who like it Zac/Mimmi P.O.V. thanks for liking what I have already posted. But I think I'm going to add them on special chapters. When things happen that are crazy and I bet you all would like to know their response to … certain developments in the family. They won't be every chapter but I think I might throw them in once and a while.**

 **So how did you like this chapter? I absolutely adore sibling fluff. It is really fun to write about. What is happening with Zac and Mimmi? You just have to wait to find out.**

 **Thanks so much for all of the support. It means oh so much to me to have you really like what I am putting out there. For being so new to the fanfiction community, you all have made me feel so welcome. My family really doesn't understand the benefits to being in a fandom and the difficulties we all go through, so thanks for making me feel welcome. And don't worry. I have NO intentions of dropping this story anytime soon. I'm just a huge procrastinator. Oops.**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	12. Chapter 12

Zac woke up the next morning feeling sick. His stomach hurt and his nose was stuffed, making it hard to breathe, and to top it all off, he definitely had a fever. He didn't have to be his dad to diagnose himself.

Grumbling, he sat up in bed, pressing the palm of his hand to his head, his headache making it hard to concentrate.

A soft knock came from his door making him look up from his bed.

"Come in," Zac choked out.

His mum opened his door with a creak. She seems surprised to see him still in bed.

"Why are you still in bed? It's almost noon. I thought you went to meet Evie for lunch over an hour ago, but here you are, still in bed. Come on…Get up," she walked over and pulled the covers off of her son.

Zac moans and flopped back down on his bed.

"Can't… Sick," Zac mumbled into his pillow. He turned back over to face his mother when he hearing his mother sigh. Lauren placed her hand over his forehead, frowning from the warmth.

"Huh, I guess you are really sick. Okay, stay in bed. Your dad is at work, but I'll call him and ask him to bring home some cold medicine on his way home. I'll bring you some soup in a little bit. Just try and get some sleep," Lauren said, kissing Zac's warm forehead.

Zac snuggled back in his blankets and tried to go back to sleep. His phone chimed once he finally got comfortable.

Groaning, Zac pushed back his blankets and grabbed his phone from his nightstand. He had five texts from Evie. Chuckling to himself, he unlocked his phone.

 **Evie: Hey. You up yet? :)**

 **Evie: Hello?**

 **Evie: Are we still on for lunch at the café?**

 **Evie: Zac? Are you okay?**

 **Evie: nm. Your mum just called me. Feel better. We will have lunch when you are up for it. xoxo**

Zac smiled. His girlfriend was such a worrier. But he did love her. He decided to text her back.

 **Zac: Thanks. I must have caught something at school. Bet I will feel better tomorrow. IOU lunch.**

He placed his phone back down on his nightstand and looked out of his window. The sea looked calm, but the sky was grey. It looked like it was going to rain. Perfect day to stay inside.

His phone chimed again. Zac picked it back up, preparing to talk to his girlfriend. But it wasn't Evie. It was Welian.

 **Weilan: Are you feeling okay?**

Zac sent a quick response back to her.

 **Zac: Sick. Why do you ask?**

Weilan texted back almost immediately.

 **Weilan: It's Mimmi. She's also sick.**

Zac nodded his head. She did seem sick last night at dinner and she did have a fever when he went to go and check on her.

 **Weilan: What are your symptoms?**

 **Zac: Umm… Headache, stomachache, stuffy nose, dizziness and a fever. Why?**

 **Weilan: That is exactly like Mimmi…**

 **Zac: There is a bug going around school. We both must have caught something.**

 **Weilan: No, what's going around school is strep throat and pink eye. No one I know has your symptoms. Except Mimmi.**

Zac sighed and shook his head.

 **Zac: So? I'm sure it's nothing.**

 **Weilan: Yeah, but I read something last night…**

This interested Zac.

 **Zac: What did you read?**

Weilan paused. The three dots showed that she was typing, but then they disappeared. Then they reappeared, than quickly disappeared again.

Zac groaned.

 **Zac: Weilan? What did you find?**

 **Weilan: I'm sure it's nothing. Get some rest. Come to Rita's when you feel better.**

That girl! She couldn't just get Zac hyped up about something and then just completely disappear!

 **Zac: Weilan?**

 **Zac: You can't just leave me hanging!**

 **Zac: Hello?!**

Nothing.

"Ladies and gentleman, Weilan has left the building," Zac mumbled under his breath.

Zac slumped back under his blankets and looked at his ceiling. What on earth was Weilan talking about? What was wrong with him and Mimmi? What was going on with the water dragon?

All of these thoughts blurred together and put Zac to sleep.

Meanwhile, Mimmi was just now waking up. After having a fitful night sleep, (the land beds tended to do that) Mimmi was tired of staying in bed and doing nothing.

Ondina was worried sick about her. Mermaids were not known to get sick. But after spending so much time on land, they started to adapt more human like qualities. So getting sick was a price she was willing to pay.

Groaning, she sat up and pushed off of her bed. She grabbed the mattress once more, steadying herself before walking out the door.

"Morning sleepyhead," A chipper voice greeted her. Ondina was standing behind the counter, attempting to make some food. She was doing better than normal though. Nothing was on fire this time.

Mimmi groaned her response before flopping down onto the couch.

"Oh no you don't. You can't sleep all day," Ondina replied. Mimmi heard her shoes tapping against the tile floor as she walked over to the couch. A sharp poke in her Mimmi's side was enough to make her sit up.

"How are you feeling?" Ondina asked, sitting next to Mimmi on the couch. She placed her hand on her forehead, which Mimmi quickly slapped away.

Ondina raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing like some rotten snails huh?"

Mimmi snorted at her best friend. Though Ondina could be as stubborn as a clam and as spiky as a sea urchin at times, she really did care about her friends.

"I'm fine. I just feel off today," Mimmi admitted, looking down at her bare feet. There was no use trying to lie to Ondina. Her best friend knew her inside and out, and she knew when Mimmi was lying. In all honesty, she felt like a dead fish. Everything hurt. And she had a headache that made her wince.

"I'm sorry Mim. We can go and visit the pod and see if they had any recipes that could make you feel better," Ondina said, rubbing Mimmi's arm.

Mimmi huffed. "I'm sure I'll get over it soon. Don't worry about me."

The blond smiled. "I'll always worry about you."

"I think that you should leave Mimmi alone and worry about whatever concoction is on the stove right now," A voice said.

Weilan walked up the stairs and pointed to the stove. Whatever Ondina was trying to make for Mimmi was frothing over the sides.

"My soup!" Ondina screeched and ran over to the stove, trying her best to turn down the heat.

Weilan and Mimmi both laughed, but Mimmi's laugh soon turned into a cough. That cough soon escalated into a coughing fit with Mimmi struggling to catch her breath.

Weilan jumped off the couch that Ondina had abandoned and ran into the kitchen, quickly grabbing a glass of water. Careful not to spill it on her or her friends, she brought it to Mimmi who accepted it gratefully, gulping down the cool liquid.

Ondina abandoned the now unsalvageable "soup" she was making and came to Mimmi's side. Weilan carefully patted her back as Mimmi tried to regain her breathing.

Once the fit had ended, Mimmi looked at her friends. Her face was flushed and her eyes watered from the pressure.

"What just happened?" Ondina asked hesitantly.

Mimmi shrugged, while breathing slowly. Weilan looked over at Ondina. Mimmi could see the worry written all over her face.

"I don't know. I just started coughing and I couldn't stop no matter how hard I tried," Mimmi rasped, her voice rough from the recent attack.

The doorbell rang, scaring the three girls. Weilan took the liberty of leaving the couch and going to answer it. Ondina looked at Mimmi. She rubbed small circles on her back just like Weilan did moments before.

Weilan entered again a few moments later with Chris on her trail.

Mimmi instantly sat up straighter and brushed a lock of hair away from her face

"Hey," She greeted her co-worker and her crush.

Chris smiled, but when he saw the state that Mimmi was in, his smile turned into a frown.

"I guess this is why you weren't at work today. Dr. Ross never told me you were sick. I came over to see if you wanted to go out to lunch again, but I guess…" he motioned to Mimmi with his hand. "I'll take a raincheck."

Mimmi smiled weakly. "Thanks. I caught a cold last night. I would love to go out for lunch with you, but I don't want to spread any germs. Next time though."

Ondina leaned onto Mimmi's lap. "And besides, I already made her lunch," Ondina said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Chris sniffed the air. "Is that what that burnt smell is?"

Ondina frowned and huffed, getting off of Mimmi's lap. She instead sat back down next to her and crossed her arms, trying to look upset.

Weilan walked over and punched Ondina's arm playfully. "Relax Ondina. Nothing blew up… this time."

Ondina had the nerve to look offended. "I'll have you know that my cooking has improved drastically."

Mimmi looked over at Chris. "It's true. Now Poseidon can stomach it without throwing it back up. But we humans have a long way to go."

Chris smiled. The atmosphere in the room was peaceful. No water dragon. No suspecting parents. Just a group of mermaids and a land boy just hanging out on the weekend. Life was good. For now…

 **Yeah. I'm back. What? I get bored in some classes and I like writing.**

 **So how was this chapter? I liked throwing Chris in there just for an element of fun. But what is going on with Zac and Mimmi? Why are they sick? What is Weilan hiding? And what will happen in the next chapter that made me want to add a cliffhanger? (In all honesty, I just really like cliffhangers.)**

 **I want to give a special shout-out to a girl on my bus who had no clue what I was writing about, but fixed some of my mistakes. Thanks for being so brutally honest! I think you really improved my story. So thanks C!**

 **Anywayyyysss… Hoped you enjoyed it. Thanks for all of the support!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	13. Chapter 13

Chis left shortly after, saying that he had to go and do a dolphin show. Weilan went with him, planning to stop by the Café and pick up some lunch for the group. No one was going to touch Ondina's "soup" so they just threw it away.

Settling down on the sofa, Mimmi turned on the T.V. She was always amazed at the land people's gadgets that they had in their house. Ondina had to go and teach her class of young mermaids and Rita had an emergency staff meeting at school. So Mimmi had the house to herself until Weilan got back with the food.

Mimmi flicked through the channels before deciding on a nature documentary all about the rainforest. She loved to learn some things other than the sea, and right now, she was fascinated with rainforests.

A knock on the front door broke the steady voice of the narrator in the documentary.

"Come in. It's not locked," Mimmi yelled, thinking that Weilan had left her keys at the home, something she does quite often.

"Sis?" A male voice asked, almost startling Mimmi.

Mimmi turned around to see her brother climbing up the staircase, looking almost as sick as her.

"Hey. What are you doing here? I heard from Evie that you were sick,"

"I am. I just wanted to come and see you before it started raining," Zac replied as he fell onto the couch next to his sister. Mimmi took the blanket that was on her lap and threw a portion if it onto her brother. He accepted it gratefully.

"Thanks. Hey, where is Weilan?" Zac asked once he got settled.

"Out getting food. Why?" Mimmi asked, still focused on the documentary.

Zac was quite for a moment. This caused Mimmi to turn and look at him. He was looking at the floor.

He said after some hesitation, "She texted me this morning. She read something that she kind of hinted referred to you and me."

Mimmi grabbed the remote from the coffee table and paused the documentary.

"What do you mean?" She asked harshly.

Zac looked up from the floor and into his sister's eyes. There was a glint of both fear and fascination in them.

"She didn't say. She just told me to come over here when I felt better."

"And do you feel better?"

Zac raised an eyebrow. "Not at all. Also judging by your appearance, I'm guessing you also feel awful."

Mimmi snorted. "Thanks for the complement."

"I'm just saying that you look like death," Zac replied with a grin.

"Zac!" Mimmi screeched, laughing as she hit him with a nearby pillow.

Zac laughed. "Just stating the facts."

Mimmi tried to look offended. She placed a hand over her chest and said dramatically, "I am a mermaid! Creature of the sea. I always look beautiful! Woe to those who say anything else."

Zac fell back against the couch cushions laughing. "I bow to you oh goddess! Show me your ways!"

Mimmi raised a ball of water from her glass on the coffee table. She then dropped it back into the glass with a satisfying "splat."

Still laughing, Zac cheered. "Bravo! Bravo! Encore!"

Mimmi jumped off the couch and gave a dramatic bow, throwing air kisses to the "audience".

"Uh, guys?" a voice said behind them.

Zac and Mimmi both spun around to see Weilan in the doorway, holing a bag of food. She looked horrified, which made Zac and Mimmi laugh even harder. Weilan just stared at them, wondering what on earth she just walked in on.

"I'm not even going to ask…" Weilan replied, placing the bag on the counter. She rifled through it and pulled out a to-go box of prawns, Mimmi's go to choice, and brought it over to the couch. Mimmi accepted it gratefully and offered some to her brother, who accepted one without complaint.

"How are you feeling Zac? " Weilan asked, popping a shrimp in her mouth. She sat down on the coffee table directly across from them.

"Like I got my chest stomped on by a group of Irish dancers," Zac said, and then coughed into his fist. Mimmi passed him her glass of water which Zac finished what was left.

"Thanks," Zac said, placing the glass on the coffee table next to Weilan.

Clearing his throat, Zac looked at Weilan with interest in his eyes.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" She asked, lifting her hand to her cheek.

"No, you're clean." Zac reported.

Welian nodded satisfactorily, letting her hand drop back down to her lap.

"Then why are you staring at me? Seriously… stop. It's creeping me out," Weilan said turning to look at Mimmi who shrugged.

"What did you want to show us? You said in your text that you found something that could explain why we are sick," Zac replied.

"Us getting sick? You mean it's not just a 24 hour cold?" Mimmi asked, her voice dripping with eagerness.

Weilan shook her head. "I don't know. After you went to bed last night and Ondina went home, I went down to the grotto to do some light reading. And before you ask, yes I was looking for a solution about the water dragon. But I came across a book that Rita owned. It mentioned the rare possibilities of twins. It said that they had some "special" powers that are limited only to twins. I- I can't remember exactly what it says though."

Zac looked at Mimmi. "To the grotto?" he asked.

A devilish smirk played on Mimmi's lips. "I'll race you there."

The two teens, despite being sick, raced down to the grotto, with Weilan grabbing the lunch before chasing after them.

Once they settled down, Weilan walked over to a nearby table and picked up an old book. It was dark purple and it was massive. It had the stereotypical old book smell and was covered in a thick layer of dust, which Weilan blew away in order to add some effect.

Zac and Mimmi both smiled as Weilan brought it over to them, carrying it high above her head, and making weird noises. She placed it on the table in front of the stone bench with a "thump" before dramatically bowing to the book. She stood up straight and pulled a flashlight from behind her back, holding it in front of her face.

"It's… time…" she said in a low, raspy voice, raising her eyebrows as high as they could go.

"You are so weird," Zac responded, laughing lightly.

Weilan shrugged and clicked the flashlight off, putting it on the table next to the book.

"Call me any names you want. That book is thick and I know what chapter the information is. So you could either call me names or…"

"Fine. I'm sorry," Zac said.

This seemed to satisfy Weilan as she began to flip through the old book.

"Here," she said stopping on the page. She used her finger to skim the pargraphsbefore tapping the one she wanted. She showed Zac and Mimmi the page before flipping it over to read. "Although extremely rare, it is not impossible for twins to be born. After the war, mermaids have been forbidden to mate with mermen, and instead they use the full moon to conceive…"

"Yeah, yeah. We've heard it all before. Nerissa obviously mated with a merman and thus, Mimmi and I were created. Is there anything else about twin?" Zac interrupted.

Weilan glared at him from overtop of the book. "Would you like me to continue?" She asked sarcastically.

Zac sighed loudly before settling back onto the cushions and nodding to Weilan.

"Use the full moon to conceive their offspring. The children of rebellious mermaids and mermen are born with incredible magic abilities," Weilan stopped reading and looked at the twins, who has their eyes wide open, before continuing. "The twins will be stronger together and have abilities limited to only the two of them. It is said that certain twins can have the power to share visions of the other in time of need. They can see what the other is seeing in extreme cases. Once that power has been mastered, new abilities can surface…"

"New abilities? We're not going to have the powers to read minds or anything?" questioned Mimmi.

"I doubt mind reading is a mermaid power sis," Zac said nudging his sister. Mimmi narrowed her eyes at him.

"Anyways… These new abilities could include sharing powers, talking telepathically to one another, and experience what the other twin is experiencing…" Weilan said coming to a slow stop. She looked at the siblings.

Zac stood up from the bench angrily. "What? Experience what the other one is experiencing. I don't want to feel what you're feeling. No offence," he offered.

"And yet, I'm offended." Zac glared at his sister for using the unoriginal line.

Mimmi turned to Weilan. "I guess that explains why are both sick. Is it permanent? I mean, the talking to each other through our minds does seem pretty cool, but I don't want to feel what you're feeling."

Zac nodded. "I know. Some things are… privet…"

Weilan and Mimmi both looked at Zac with horrified expressions on their faces.

Zac rolled his brown eyes. "Not in that way. I just don't want to share everything with you. Yes, we are twins, but are two different people."

Mimmi shrugged. "Maybe it's a good thing?"

Zac stared at her. "How?"

"Well, I will know if you are hurt before anyone else and vise –versa. We really shouldn't worry about it. Also, I think it is already starting to develop. During dinner, I could feel your anxiety. When you rubbed the back of your neck like you do when you are nervous, I could also feel that."

Zac winced. "That would explain why I felt hot and dizzy when I came to check on you last night."

Mimmi cocked her head. "You came to check on me?"

Zac smiled. "Of course. I was worried about you."

Zac turned to look at Weilan. She was skimming through the book to see if there was any other useful information. "And this is the first time you have heard anything about it?"

Weilan, not even bothering to look up from the book answered. "Hey. Twins aren't very common. You both know that."

"Maybe we should ask Rita… Or the mermaid counsel," Zac offered.

"Ask me what?"

Rita was coming down the staircase when she heard her name in conversation. She was back from the staff meeting and was anxiously awaiting to check on Mimmi.

Weilan carried the purple book over to her. "We wanted to know if you knew anything else about this," Weilan asked.

Rita took the book from Weilan's hands carefully. "Where did you get this?" Rita asked, examining the book.

"Wait, it isn't yours?" Weilan asked confused.

Rita shook her head before giving the book back to Weilan. "I've never seen that book in my life. Where did you find it?"

"It was on the table when I woke up this morning," she pointed to the table she was sitting on. "I assumed you put it there."

Rita looked over at Zac and Mimmi. "I haven't been down here in days. Too much schoolwork to take care of," she replied softly.

"Well books don't magically appear. Even for us. Could it have been Ondina?" Zac asked the group.

Mimmi shook her head. "Ondina would have woken me up the moment she found something."

"Then where on earth did this book come from?" Weilan asked, gently putting the book on the table. The group all stared at it, unable to come up with a solution.

 **Holy crap! How on earth were you guys able to figure out what was happening? Seriously, did you read my mind or something? To all of those who guessed it was some new powers developing, congrats! You win a new chapter… yeah I got nothing.**

 **So I need some feedback. Do you want the next few chapters to be about…?**

 **Mimmi and Chris with their relationship**

 **Another twist on an episode**

 **A meeting about the water dragon**

 **Leave your answer in the comments. And do you want me to add some more Lauren and Rob into the mix. I 'm not completely sure they believe Zac's story.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	14. Chapter 14

Ondina was also puzzled by the mysterious book that had appeared in the grotto. The purple book did seem to have a lot of useful information in it. Ondina wanted to ask the counsel about the book, but the group all voted on waiting until they had a chance to study the book. Mimmi, who was known for being the one who enjoyed learning the most, volunteered to study the book. Rita wanted her to go and get some more rest, but Mimmi refused, saying she already felt better.

It was true. Color had returned to not only her face, but to Zac's. It seemed like the more time they spent together, the faster they felt better. So Zac sat next to Mimmi as she researched.

Weilan had to finish some homework from Friday so she went into their shared "bedroom" for some peace and quiet.

Mimmi sat studying the book while sat staring up at the ceiling. She flipped through the pages at record breaking speed, her dark blue eyes skimming the words on the yellowing pages of the dusty book.

"Here," she said, slamming her finger on the paragraph she had been reading.

Zac looked over at her, his eyes wide. "What?" he questioned.

"More information about twins. This one is about talking telepathically," she reported.

Zac leaned over to look at the text. Mimmi shifted the book so he could read it better.

"It just says we have to focus on each other," Zac said skeptically.

Mimmi laughed lightly. "Is that all? I thought we had to recite a chant and make a sacrifice to the gods."

"Haha. Very funny," Zac remarked sarcastically. He turned to his sister, who grinned.

"What?"

"Focus on me. Let's see if it works."

Mimmi cast Zac a hesitant look before she started staring at him too. Their gazes were unbreakable. They focused only on each other and everything around them disappeared. They felt… nothing.

No mind reading. No visions. Nothing.

Zac groaned and flopped back on the bench, his head turned up to the ceiling with his eyes closed.

"This…is… hopeless…" He said.

Mimmi settled down next to her brother. "I'm sorry. Maybe it didn't work because we are sick," she offered.

"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe this book is a fraud," Zac grumbled unhappily.

Mimmi made no remarks. Her silence made Zac look at her. She was once again staring at the book, but Zac could see the tears starting to form in her eyes. She really wanted it to work.

"Hey, it's okay. We can try again later when we are feeling better."

Mimmi turned away from him and nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Zac grabbed her hand, holding it in his own. Mimmi turned and looked into his eyes, while he stared into hers.

A bolt of energy traveled down Zac and Mimmi's arms, colliding where their fingers matched. A bright flash of pink light filled the grotto, sending the twins flying off of the bench. The blast knocked books and boxes off of the shelves and they fell to the floor with a loud crash. Mimmi and Zac were hurled to opposite sides of the grotto, crashing painfully into the walls before dropping to the floor.

Zac was the first to recover. Groaning, he pushed himself off of the stone ground, blinking the dust away from his eyes. The flash had caused some of the dust from the grotto to rise up, forming a cloud, making it harder to see.

"Mimmi?" Zac croaked, trying to locate his sister.

There was no response.

"Mimmi?!" Zac cried louder. His mind was racing now. Was she hurt?

A groan came from the other side of the room.

"Zac?" Mimmi asked in a painful whispered.

Zac stumbled to where Mimmi was sprawled on the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked, reaching down to help her off the ground. She accepted his hand gratefully. He helped her rise from the ground, keeping her balanced as her legs trembled beneath her. He placed a hand on her back and led her over to the bench. He pushed some debris aside and helped her sit down. She shook her hair which was covered in dust. Zac smirked slightly because it looked like she lost a fight with a bag of flour.

"I-I'm fine. What the hell just happened?" Mimmi asked in a scared voice. Zac slung an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. She snuggled closer to him, but she was still on high alert.

"I don't know," Zac looked around the room. It was a mess. Things were shattered on the floor, countless rare items completely destroyed.

" _Rita is going to kill us."_

Zac looked down at her. "I'm sure she will understand."

Mimmi pulled away from him and narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Rita. I'm sure she won't be upset with us."

Mimmi was taken aback. "How did you know I was thinking about Rita?"

Zac stared at her. "You just said that she is going to kill us."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did. I just heard you."

Mimmi's eyes widened. "I didn't say anything Zac. But I thought it."

"What do you mean you thought it?" Zac asked, half interested, half concerned.

" _I mean, I really thought it."_

Zac's eyes widened as his sister's voice entered his head. Her lips weren't moving.

"Holy crap! How did you do that?" Zac gasped.

Mimmi smiled triumphantly. "I don't know, I just… thought it to you." Her response came out more like a question.

Zac closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. Mimmi waited patiently as her brother tried to communicate with her. Nothing happened.

Huffing, Zac opened his eyes at Mimmi. She couldn't help but have a smirk on her lips as she saw her brother's exasperated expression.

"No fair. How come you get to do it and I can't?" Zac pouted.

Mimmi laughed. "Just be patient. I'm sure it will come to you. Relax."

Zac was mildly annoyed, but he smiled a bit, agreeing with his sister. He could do it. It would just take some time.

Mimmi looked around the grotto. "We better clean up before Rita sees this mess."

"Oh trust me, I've seen it."

Zac and Mimmi turned to see Rita standing at the bottom of the staircase with Ondina and Weilan trailing behind her.

"How is it that you always show up whenever we say your name?" Zac questioned.

Rita narrowed her eyes. "I'm a teacher. I picked up on a few things."

"What happened here?" Ondina asked, looking around at the mess. "We heard a boom coming from down here. We couldn't open the door. There was a piece of rock blocking the entrance. We were finally able to move it and we come down to see this. Zac what did you do now?"

Zac held his hands in the air. "Why do you assume it was me?"

Weilan smirked. "Because you're always to balme!"

"Girls," Rita said in her "principle" voice, but it was obvious she was trying not to smile. She turned back to Mimmi and Zac. "What really happened here?"

"Ummm…" Mimmi started, looking at Zac for clarification. He nodded for her to continue. "Zac and I can now communicate telepathically," she grinned dramatically, waiting to be yelled at.

"What! It actually worked?" Weilan walked over to the coffee table before bending down to pick it up off of the floor. It had been pushed of the table by the explosion.

She flipped through it, finding the page that they bookmarked. She skimmed the text.

"So it worked for the both of you?" she looked up at the twins with an interested expression on her face.

"Some more than others," Zac muttered. They all turned to look at him. His eyes were casted down to the floor. Mimmi scooted closer to her brother, placing her hand on his arm. He looked up at her. She gave him a small smile of encouragement.

"Wait, you can't do it Zac?" Ondina asked, walking down to sit next to him.

Zac shrugged softly, looking defeated. "Mimmi has always been better with her powers than me."

"That's not true!" Mimmi stood up and glared at her brother. "We are equal. I've just had some more practice than you. I've seen your powers and they are really strong."

Zac looked up at her and smiled weakly. "Thanks sis."

Rita walked down to the group. "Mimmi and Ondina. Use your moon rings to fix up this mess," she then turned directly to Mimmi. "Then you and Zac go and get some rest. You are both still recovering from your sickness," She cast her eyes down to Zac. "Zac, you can spend the night in one of the girl's beds if you want to."

"Night?" Zac reached into his pocket to check his watch. It was nearing 10:00 pm. He had two missed calls from his parents. He had turned his ringer off so he could focus on the research.

"Jeeze. I didn't realize it had gotten so late. Thanks Rita but I'll head home. I'm sure my dad will want to check on me." With that, he rose from the bench, kissed Mimmi on the head and left the room.

Rita motioned Mimmi and Ondina to start repairing the damage. They quickly did before jumping into Rita's version of the moon pool and heading off to their home.

 **I had the hardest time typing the ending. I swear that my fingers are purposely hitting all of the wrong keys.**

 **So like that chapter? Communicating through the mind would be awesome. Mimmi sure has gotten the hang of it, but Zac hasn't.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	15. Chapter 15

The sickness faded that night. Both Zac and Mimmi recovered at the exact same time. Rob was concerned about his son when he came home from Rita's. He told his son that he should have stayed home and not risked spreading more germs. Zac tried to convince his father that there was nothing to worry about, and that his friends would be fine. Rob sent him to bed, claiming that he would check on him in the morning.

Zac woke up the next morning feeling completely fine. His dad was in awe, claiming that his symptoms should have not fade away that quickly. Zac just passed it off as a 24 hour bug.

He called Mimmi at Rita's house. Ondina answered, yelling at Zac that it was too early for anyone to be calling them on a Sunday.

Zac gently reminded her that it was 11:00 in the morning.

"Will you please get my sister on the phone?" Zac asked, mildly annoyed at Ondina now.

A sigh was heard from the other end. "Fine."

Some static was heard on the line. Ondina was covering the phone with her hand but Zac could still hear her scream "Mimmi!"

Zac waited, hearing soft talking from the other end.

"Hello?" Mimmi's chipper voice answered. Just by that one word, Zac could already tell that she was feeling better. Her voice wasn't raspy anymore.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Much better. How about you?" Mimmi questioned.

"Good, good. Evie wants to go and get lunch at the café. Do you want to tag along? I'm sure Cam will sneak his way into lunch too."

"I would love to. Ondina keeps trying to make food. It's…. not going so well…"

On the other line, Zac heard Ondina screech "My cooking is not that bad!"

Mimmi snickered over the line. "I'll meet you in an hour." With that, she ended the call.

Mimmi walked up to the café an hour later. She saw her friends sitting around the table on the deck.

"Hey everyone," she greeted. Evie waved at her, Zac smiled, and Cam, being as courteous as ever, just glanced up from his surf magazine to acknowledge that she was there.

She sat down next to Cam. He scooted his magazine over to her to show her the newest article about the ocean. He knew that she loved to read about her home. Mimmi looked down and began to read the article, only to be interrupted by liquid falling on the page she was reading.

Mimmi jumped back, her chair tipping over and she crashed on the ground. Luckily, she was wearing shorts, as her legs were up in the air.

"Ow," Mimmi groaned, rubbing the back of her head.

"Mimmi! I'm so sorry!" She was helped up by David, who was delivering drinks. He had placed his tray full of food down on the table. "I was delivering Cam's drink when some of it splashed over the side. Are you okay?" His eyes were full of worry.

"I'm fine," she assured him. A glance around the table showed that her friends did not believe her. "Seriously. I'm fine. I've been hit by a lot worse. Nothing's ruined," She smiled.

"Speak for yourself!" Cam exclaimed. He groaned and held up his now soaking wet magazine. "I didn't even get to finish reading it." He walked over and threw the soaked magazine away. He skulked back over and flumped down on his chair, crossing his arms as he frowned.

"What is going on?" Ondina asked, walking over to the table. Weilan was walking with her. They both saw what just happened.

"My bad!" David exclaimed, throwing his hand in the air. He then continued to place the food on the table.

"Yeah. David's bad," Cam muttered.

Evie swatted his arm from across the table.

Ondina and Weilan sat down and placed their orders along with Mimmi.

As David left to fulfill their orders, Zac and Mimmi recounted the news that they discovered.

"But how does it work?" Cam asked, genially intrigued.

Zac and Mimmi looked at each other with sarcastic expressions on their faces.

Zac turned to Cam. "Magic," he said, waving his fingers in the air.

The table burst out laughing. Cam rolled his eyes.

"No duh. I swear Zac, you are the most sarcastic person I have ever met."

Zac placed his hand on his chest and looked up at the sky dramatically. "It's a gift."

Evie snorted. "Yeah, a gift of annoyance," she remarked under her breath.

Zac flashed her the cheesiest smile he could manage.

She laughed as Cam took a big bite out of his sandwich.

"So," he said with his mouth full. He waved his sandwich at the twins and crumbs flew everywhere. He swallowed. "You guys can talk to each other through your minds? That's so cool!"

Zac looked down at his drink. Mimmi placed her hand on top of his.

"I can, but Zac is still working on it. But I'm sure that he will develop it soon."

They all looked at him with compassion. Zac knew that they felt sorry for them and he really didn't want their pity. He was sick and tired of feeling like less than he was.

Evie cleared her throat. "You were sick Zac. Maybe that affected your powers."

Zac eyed her almost bitterly. "Mimmi was sick too and she is able to do it."

"But." Cam interrupted, dragging out his words. "She got sick before you. The sickness was probably almost out of her system when it happened. You still had more of it left in your system. Maybe it interfered with your magic."

Evie nodded with a determined look in her eyes. "Cam's probably right. I'm sure you will develop these powers pretty soon."

Mimmi, Ondina and Weilan eyed each other quietly. They had no experience with this sort of thing. They doubted that it was just the sickness that was causing this, but they had to be optimistic for Zac.

Zac too was doubting this theory. He already felt like the lamest merman ever. He knew that he was the weaker twin. He had heard some mermaids make fun of him. The son of Nerissa, the most powerful mermaid that ever lived, was a complete failure. He was raised by land people and just recently found out about what he was. The one that made his family in the sea flee from their home in fear. The one that would never match up to his younger sister.

He knew that some of the members of the pod still resented him. They thought of him as a foe rather than a friend. He knew that he couldn't undo thousands of years of fear and unrest just by showing them that he meant no harm. He destroyed the trident and thus, he let them come home. Some believed that he was working with Erik in secret, and that together, they would crush all mermaids. They saw the events that went down in the merman chamber as a decoy for the real invasion. It was all part of his plan to take over the sea, just like his ancestors had done long ago.

Mimmi stood up for him, claiming that he meant them no harm, but he couldn't help but feel useless. His younger sister was protecting him. It should be the other way around. He didn't deserve his powers. Mimmi did.

" _Stop."_ Mimmi's thought interrupted his. Zac couldn't help but jump at the slightest at the sound of her voice. He looked over at her, and she gave him a smug smile.

" _I know what you're thinking. Your mind reached out to me and I could catch glimpses of what you are thinking. For what I can piece together, I can figure out that you think that you are weaker than you actually are. Zac, you have incredible power. Don't let this little obstacle hold you back. There is just a block in your mind. I can almost… feel it. You're scared Zac. Why? What are you afraid of?"_

Zac looked down, almost ashamed.

" _You are not a freak Zac. Those who tell you differently are wrong. Don't let their negative comments get to you."_ She paused for a moment. _"I guess that reading minds is actually a mermaid ability."_

Zac laughed under his breath as he remembered their earlier conversation. This caught the attention of the table.

"What's so funny?" Ondina asked, stopping the story she was telling the group.

Mimmi and Zac just shook their heads, still laughing.

Their friends looked at each other, very confused.

"Is is…" Cam started, but then trailed off. He pointed to his head, his eyes wide.

Mimmi and Zac both nodded.

Cam's hand dropped onto the table. "Weird," he mumbled.

The table was silent for a moment, the news sinking in.

"Well, at least you don't need a phone anymore," Cam joked.

The group cracked up. David came back to the table with their orders. "What did I miss?"

 **So they are feeling better. Yay! This chapter is more of a filler chapter. I just needed to tie up some loose ends, so it's not my favorite. But I do have more exciting chapters up my sleeve including, but not limited to…**

 **Another spin off chapter**

 **Some Chris/Mimmi fluff**

 **Rob and Lauren finding out some… stranger things…**

 **The owner of the purple book**

 **AND MORE!**

 **So I hit chapter 15. I had everything planned out for 10 chapters, but you can all see how that worked out. To celebrate, I'm going to do a Q &A!**

 **It will be opened until the next chapter comes out and it will be down in the author's note. There is some simple info in my bio like…**

 **I am a girl**

 **I am 16 years old**

 **I live in the USA**

 **But if you want to know more, leave your questions in the reviews. Please keep it reasonable. No I will not tell you my real name, my address, my phone number, social security number, where I go to school…etc.**

 **You can ask me anything else though (in reason) I really don't care if you ask me what my favorite animal is. *cough dolphin *cough* Just have fun.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	16. Chapter 16

Mimmi stood on the dock of the café that night, staring out at the sea as she watched the sunset. She sighed contently as she breathed in the spray of the water. Wind whipped around her legs, her knee length light purple dress following the wind. Her curly chocolate hair floated gracefully away from her face.

She watched the sun dip under the horizon, the colors lighting up the sky. Carly was going to sing that night, but Mimmi wanted to get some fresh air soon. She looked up at the sky. The moon was almost full and they still had no idea how to defeat the water dragon. Weilan had an idea to put the water dragon into a puzzle box a few days ago, but it ended up going rouge and sucked up both Poseidon and Ms. Trumble. So it was back to square one.

Mimmi inhaled deeply, breathing in the nigh air. She closed her eyes, feeling at peace. All of her worries had soon faded away.

"Hey," a voice said as a hand was placed on the small of her back. Mimmi opened her eyes and turned around. Chris was standing behind her wearing a dark red polo shirt with khaki shorts. His hair was tousled by the wind. "I didn't scare you did I?" he smiled deviously.

"No. Not at all," she smiled warmly at him. She leaned up against the railing.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked, his eyes were full of concern.

Mimmi blushed. "I've never felt better."

Chris's smile grew even larger. There was a silence that filled the air. It wasn't uncomfortable though. They were both trying to figure out what to say.

Chris decided to go first. "So I was thinking…" he began.

"Oh, that can be dangerous," Mimmi joked lightly.

Chris blushed and cleared his throat.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me?" He asked in a rush, almost sounding embarrassed.

Mimmi's heart soared with happiness, but it soon faded when she realized how busy she was. She had to help Zac find his powers, find a new way to defeat the water dragon that didn't include sucking up teachers, research more in the mysterious purple book and deal with Rob and Lauren.

"Mimmi?' Chris asked, waving his hand over her eyes. She blinked a few times before settling on Chris's interested face.

"Sorry. Um, look. I really would love to go out to eat, but I am swamped with a bunch of… family things…to sort out." It was technically true. She had to take care of her family in the sea.

Chris looked down disappointed; hurt written across his face. "Oh. I understand," he mumbled.

Mimmi instantly regretted her choice of words. "Oh Chris. I'm not trying to make up an excuse right now. I really do have some family issues that I need to sort out. I would really love to go on a date with you…" She froze. Did she really just say date?

Chris smiled. "Date huh?" he nudged her jokingly.

Mimmi stuck out her tongue. "You know what I mean. Can I take a rain check?" She asked, batting her eyelashes for an extra effect.

Chris's face visibly relaxed. "Of course. I would wait forever," He said in a whisper.

Mimmi blushed a deep red and looked down at her silver flip-flops. Gently, Chris reached down and put his thumb her chin, pulling it up so her eyes met his.

Dark brown met a sparkling blue, their gaze un-breaking. Chris reached down and put his hand on her waist. Mimmi didn't object, her gaze still mesmerized by Chris's. Chris leaned down slightly.

"Um… Guys?" A voice interrupted them.

They both jumped back in shock. Weilan stood leaning against the doorway of the Ocean Café with her arms crossed. She raised an eyebrow, showing them that she saw what was about to happen.

"Carly is about to start singing if you wanted to come inside," she paused and grinned deviously. "But I can understand if you want to stay out here..."

Chris cleared his throat and looked at his watch. Mimmi looked at her friend horrified. Weilan just shrugged.

"I should get back home. My grandma is making chicken pot pie for dinner and she is expecting me home soon," Chris stated, clearly uncomfortable.

"Aww. Are you sure? I'm sure she will have leftovers when you get back home. I'm positive that Mimmi wouldn't mind you staying for a bit," Weilan asked innocently, cocking her head to the side a bit.

Chris coughed nervously. "Thanks, but I already promised her that I would be home…" He checked his watch. "Oh, right about now," He looked at Mimmi. "I'll see you tomorrow at work."

Mimmi nodded. "You got to love Monday."

Chris smiled and gave Mimmi an awkward hug while Weilan just stood there watching. He gave a small nod to Weilan before he walked off.

Mimmi sighed unhappily and turned to Weilan.

Weilan put her fingers closer together and smiled brightly. "So close."

Mimmi rolled her eyes. "You are the absolute worst."

Weilan slung her arm over Mimmi's shoulder. "But you love me."

Mimmi scoffed. "Debatable."

Weilan shrugged again. "Sure. Your life would be boring without me. Come on, Carly is about to start and the pizza just arrived. I've seen how much Zac and Cam eats and I don't trust them alone with food." With that, the two girls walked inside.

The dinner went off smoothly. Carly sounded wonderful and the food was great. The mermaids left the café soon after, claiming that they had an early meeting with the mermaid counsel. They were discussing the water dragon and trying to find out how to destroy it. They claimed they were going back to Rita's to grab the purple book to show the counsel. Evie retired soon after, giving Zac a gentle kiss and congratulating Carly. Cam too said that he was going to head out after Evie left.

Zac stood up and paid the bill. After all, it was his turn. Because they ate together frequently, they decided to take turns paying the bills. He walked back to the table and grabbed his phone before his eye caught something silver.

It was Mimmi's clutch that she brought to the café. Her mind was in the clouds when she entered the café. Weilan mouthed "Chris" to him when Mimmi wasn't looking. Zac remembered his sisters crush and tried not to be so overprotected of his little sister. She must have forgotten it on her way out.

With any luck, she was still at Rita's.

He walked over there, enjoying the night air. Rita greeted him warmly when he knocked on the door.

"They should be in the grotto still. I didn't hear them leave. If not, just leave it down there and she will get it tomorrow," Rita advised. "Feel free to let yourself out. I'm going to bed. Good night Zac."

"Night," he said as he watched Rita walk up the stairs to her bedroom, Poseidon at her heels.

Zac walked over to the bookshelf and pulled the book about Mermaid Mythology out. The hidden doors behind the bookshelf opened as Zac placed the book back in its original place.

He trudged down the stairs, looking for his sister.

"Mimmi?" Zac called, entering the grotto. His sister was nowhere to be found. The girls must have left for the moon pool. He was too late. Zac put his sister's purse on a table and turned around, about to exit the grotto when something caught his eye. It was the book. He thought that the girls were planning to give the book to the mermaid counsel for them to study.

Did the girls change their minds? No, they would have told him about their plan if they did.

A gust of wind filled the grotto, flipping open the book. It flipped through the pages before settling down. No wind followed after that.

Zac turned around, wondering if he was being pranked. There was no one in the grotto. He was all alone.

He crossed the room and bent down to examine the book. Everything seemed to be in order except for one thing. There was handwriting in the margins of the section about twins. It looked feminine, as it swirled gracefully.

"Trust your instincts" It read.

" _What the hell?"_

" _Zac? Is that you?"_ A voice filled his mind.

Zac shook his head. Why was Mimmi talking to him now? He thought, _"She knows that I can't talk through my mind. Why is she trying?"_

" _Because you are talking telepathically to me right now."_ Mimmi's thoughts were full of excitement.

" _I am? I that case, you need to get over to Rita's right now."_

 **Another Cliffhanger?!**

 **Yeah I'm evil.**

 **I believe I owe you some answers…**

 **Izi Wilson: School can suck sometimes for me, but my friends really make up for the crappy times.**

 **And that was all of the questions I got… I guess you really didn't want to know anything about me. I've always wanted to ask my favorite authors some questions. I would love to know how they form ideas and if they have the whole story already planned out. I guess guessed that you wanted to know the same thing… Note to self. No more Q &A's.**

 **I'm sorry for the boring chapters lately. I just needed to sort some things out that makes the story move along. I promise that the next chapter is going to be very… interesting…**

 **Rob and Lauren are coming very close to figuring things out… And they might…umm…see something that they weren't supposed to see… Oops.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	17. Chapter 17

Mimmi raced through the water towards the grotto. Ondina was not happy that she was going out so late, saying that they needed their rest and that whatever Zac had to stay could wait until the morning. She promised her that she would be home soon and that Ondina should just go to sleep.

Mimmi passed a school of fish that swam lazily through the dark water. Passing the coral reef, she sped through the opening in the rocks that let to Rita's moon pool.

Her head broke through the water.

"Zac?" Mimmi called, blinking the water out of her eyes. He rounded the corner and smiled when he saw her.

"Good, you're here. I found something."

Mimmi nodded and grabbed hold of the rocky ledge. With a great difficulty, she hosted herself out of the water and onto the gravel floor. She groaned as her golden-orange tail still hung in the water. She didn't get far enough the first time and she huffed in frustration.

Zac smiled in amusement. "I would help you but…" he gestured to himself.

Mimmi glared at him. Then, with a flick of her hand, she sent a jet of water towards his direction, hitting him straight in his chest.

Zac frowned at her. "Thanks," he muttered miserably. His transformation overtook him as he fell to the floor, his blue tail slapping it hard.

Now, both the twins were in their original form. Mimmi hauled herself out of the water and settled next to her brother, who stuck out his tongue at her. She laughed and used her powers to conjure up a water ball from the water on her tail. Zac did the same, preparing for the attack that he knew was going to happen. They waited until their legs reappeared before standing up, the massive balls of water sill floating above their outstretched hands.

"Don't do it sis," Zac threatened, shifting the water in front of him like a shield.

"Do what?" Mimmi questioned, batting her eyelashes to try and look innocent.

"You may have won the last water fight but I swear that I will win this one."

Mimmi smiled wickedly. "We'll see about that."

They both poised themselves in a battles stance, but before they could do anything, both of their water balls flew back into the moon pool.

Weilan stood by the entrance. "Nope. It is far too late to be behaving like children. Now if you would please leave so I can get some sleep, it would be much appreciated," she huffed. "Mimmi I thought you already retired to the moon pool for the night. What ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING HERE?" her voice rose, showing the teens that she was tired and did not want to be messed with.

"I- I…um… Zac…uh…" She started.

Zac cut her off with a wave of his hand. "I was returning Mimmi's purse when the book…the book!" he yelled. Zac rushed past Weilan into the main part of the grotto. The book was still there.

He stopped abruptly and waited for the two girls. They looked at in in shock.

Mimmi was the first to recover. "No. That's impossible. I left it with Veridia. I swear," She looked up frantically at her brother. "This shouldn't be happening. Why is it here?"

Zac shrugged. "I don't know but there is writing in it now."

Mimmi's eyes went as big as saucers. She dashed over to the table and grabbed the book, her dark blue eyes skimming the writing. "What on earth does this mean?" she mumbled to herself. She flipped through it as she tried to find more of the writing. She sat down on the bench. Weilan and Zac soon joined her.

"I recognize this writing…" Mimmi whispered. She closed her eyes to try and remember. Zac and Weilan waited patiently. If they could find out who wrote that in the book, then maybe they could figure out who it belongs to.

"Uggg!" Mimmi groaned in frustration, throwing the book back onto the table. "It's on the tip of my tongue! I know this writing, but why can't remember? It's like there is a block on my mind!" She jumped off the couch and started to pace around the room. "I am so sick and tired of being in the dark! We don't know how to defeat the water dragon yet and the full moon is tomorrow, and now this stupid book shows up!" She stopped pacing and threw her hands up into the air. "I'm done!"

"We can always use Turn the Tide," Zac suggested, referring to the Eastern Pod's self -defense that he recently mastered with the help of Weilan. He was also trying to calm down his sisters frustration.

Mimmi glared at him, her hands coming to her sides in fists. "The mermaid council already said that it wouldn't work!" She shot back at him.

Weilan looked at Zac with a mixture of fear and confusion. No one had really seen Mimmi get this upset before. She was normally the peacemaker in difficult situations. He just shook his head, indicating that she just needed time and rest.

"I'm going home. I can't think anymore," Mimmi said, her voice still dripping with bitterness and frustration. She walked out of the grotto. Zac and Weilan heard a splash and they knew she was gone.

"She is just under a lot of pressure right now. Just give her space," Zac said, trying to reassure Weilan. "I'm going to head home and I suggest you also get some sleep." He added, patting her leg.

Weilan nodded and snuggled under the blankets that they were sitting on. She kicked Zac when she couldn't stretch out anymore.

Zac chuckled as he stood up from the bench. "I guess that's my que to leave," he joked. Weilan mumbled something in her pillow as a response. "I'll see you tomorrow in the moon pool."

Zac exited the grotto and walked upstairs, not wanting to disturb Weilan anymore. He exited Rita's house through the main entrance. He knew that his parents were still suspicious of him and they wouldn't think twice with him walking home the normal way. Plus he needed to clear his head. The fresh air will do him some good.

Zac entered his bungalow and flopped down on his bed. He gazed up at his ceiling and sighed. Tomorrow would be a big day. He knew that Weilan and his plan would be going against everyone he cared about. But he had the power to get rid of the water dragon for good and he was going to take it. He would protect those he loved and would gladly take any punishment that was thrown at him. That would then show that he didn't mean any harm, and the mermaids wouldn't have to be afraid of him anymore.

While he was lost in thought, his was absentmindedly making little water balls from the glass of water on his end table. He made them float over to him, holding them high in the air before dropping them into his open mouth.

Little did he know, he didn't shut the door completely when he entered his room. The nigh wind blew it ajar without a creek. Rob was walking by to make sure that the boat was secure to the dock when he saw his son laying on his bed. He had to do a double take when he saw Zac make a hand gesture and a small ball of water rose from the glass on his bedside table.

Robs eyes grew wide in disbelief. He blinked a few time, trying to clear his vision. Nope. The water ball was still hovering over the glass. Zac flicked his hand again, and the ball shot straight into his mouth. He swallowed, as he was still unaware that his dad was watching him.

He cleared his throat and began to sit up. Rob jumped away from the door. He didn't want his son to know that he saw… whatever that was. Rob crossed around the house and peaked through the window.

Zac was standing in the middle of the room now. Rob saw him take a deep breath before swinging his arms around in a circle and pushing the air in front of him out. He was practicing the movements for Turn the Tide. There was nothing that he was pushing back, but a little practice couldn't hurt.

He repeated the movements a few more times before nodding to himself. He was happy with his progress. He sat down on his couch and proceeded to pick up his science book. He leafed through it before settling down on a page and beginning to read.

Rob dashed up to the main house. His wife was sitting on the couch flipping through a cooking magazine. She looked up, only to be greeted by the fear in Rob's eyes.

"Rob?" she questioned, setting the magazine aside.

Rob took a deep breath before sitting next to his wife, telling her everything he just saw.

A few moments later, Lauren was silent as she absorbed the news.

"So he just… controlled the water?" she asked, still in shock.

Rob nodded. "Completely. It looked to him like it was as easy as writing his name. No effort… no concentration..."

Lauren was silent. "But how?"

Rob shrugged. "I have no idea, but I think it has something to do with his sister."

Lauren was taken aback. "Mimmi? Do you really think that she knows what is happening?"

"They are always spending time together, and she is his twin. If she doesn't know, than no one else does…" Rob stated.

Lauren fell back against the couch cushions. "It would make so much sense," she muttered. Rob furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "The reason why we think that Zac is hiding something from us. He has powers somehow!"

Rob raised an eyebrow. "Over water?"

Lauren hit him with the back of her hand. "You just saw your son drink water from midair. Are you really doubting the fact that he could maybe not be…" her voice dropped to a whisper. "Normal?"

Rob got off the couch. "I don't know what he is, but I bet that Principal Santos and her nieces know a lot more than they are letting on. I mean how convenient is it that his sister lives with his school principal, and whenever something weird happens, they are all involved." Rob looked at his wife who nodded.

"What do we tell Zac then?" She asked in a hushed tone.

Rob shook his head. "Nothing. We can't let him know that we figured out… everything."

 **Come on Zac! You had one job!**

 **So Rob and Lauren think that they have everything figured out. Well boy are they wrong!**

 **Next chapter is a spin off chapter! YAY!**

 **Did you like Rob's P.O.V? Did I do him justice?**

 **Also to answer Princess of Mako, my favorite mermaid is the one and only Mimmi! Sirena is a close second.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	18. Chapter 18

Zac woke up the next morning feeling extremely nervous. Tonight was the full moon. It was the day when he would go against everyone he loved and defeat the water dragon. He knew that the pod was going to try to defeat the water dragon with the power of 150 moon rings. Weilan told him that it would never work. That is why he was going against his friends and family.

He excited the bungalow after he got ready for the day. He was planning on meeting Evie to discuss the events that were going to unfold that night.

Zac looked out at the sea, breathing in the crisp morning air.

He heard leaves behind him. Zac turned to see his dad duck behind a bush.

"Dad? I can still see you," Zac called out.

Behind the bush, Rob sighed. He came into his sons view and walked over to him.

Zac put his hands on his hips and stared questioningly at his father.

"Why are you spying on me?" Zac asked in an amused tone.

"S-Spying? I wasn't spying on you. I have no clue what you are talking about," Rob lied, very unconvincingly. He looked down at the grass.

Zac crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "You are the worst liar ever. Everyone knows this. Come on… the truth."

Rob tried to quickly come up with another lie. This one believable though. "I just… dropped my phone behind the bush. Yeah, that's exactly what happened. I came outside…to see how warm it was, and I dropped my phone," Rob gave a pathetic grin to his son.

"Uh huh," Zac muttered, clearly unconvinced. "Sure you did. I have to go see Evie now. We are meeting before school. Dad, try to not scare any of our neighbors by hiding in more bushes. I'll see you later," Zac gave a wave and walked off.

Muttering under his breath, Rob spoke. "Yes you will. And then we will find out what you are really hiding."

School passed without a hitch. Everyone was worried about the full moon though. They tried to focus on their school work, but it was almost impossible. After school, they parted ways to get started on their homework.

A few hours later, they were ready. Ondina, Mimmi and Evie were all disobeying the mermaid council by fighting the dragon instead of staying away. Weilan was on her way to Mako to help Zac defeat the dragon. Cam and Carly were both trying to keep the others best friends away from Mako, but soon realized that they messed up.

Zac on the other hand was just about to take off to Mako. He looked around for his parents, noticing that they had been acting very strange that day. He tried asking about what he did wrong during dinner, and his parents just exchanged knowing glances at each other. H also noticed that his parents kept staring at his glass of water. They held their breath every time he picked it up to take a drink. The looked almost worried, but they wouldn't tell him why.

A thought crossed his mind during the awkward dinner. It was almost like they knew something about his other life. The way they kept staring at him, monitoring his every move. At the end, he just brushed it off as paranoia about the encounter that was going to happen in a few hours.

Zac stood on the dock, preparing to dive in to his true home. The place where he could be his true self without the fear of being discovered. The place where he could be free.

He steadied himself, preparing to jump when a voice stopped him.

"Zac?" a feminine voice asked. Zac turned around to see his mother and father looking at him.

"Oh, hey guys. What's up?" He asked, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

"What are you doing out here?" Lauren asked timidly.

Zac shrugged. "Just enjoying the view." He looked to the sky, seeing the sun staring its decline toward the horizon. He needed to go and prepare for the fight of his life. The moon was going to be up soon. He had to hurry to the moon pool.

"We need to talk to you about something…rather sensitive," Rob said, catching Zac off guard.

Zac turned to face his parents. "What do you mean by sensitive?" Zac asked, mildly concerned.

Rob froze. "How about you come inside and sit down for a moment," Rob advised, placing a hand on Zac's shoulder, leading him towards the door.

Zac shook it off. "Later. I need to be somewhere now." He looked out at the sea. His parents followed his gaze.

"Zac…" Lauren started,

Zac shook his head. "I'm sorry but I have to go." He dashed away from his parents and ran toward a secluded area a few blocks over where his parents wouldn't find him. With that, he dove into the water.

Hours later, Zac entered the moon pool with the water dragon on his tail. He broke through the water to see his girlfriend there.

"Evie, what are you doing here?" Zac asked, his eyes full of panic.

Evie tried to remain calm. "You can't do this, Zac."

Zac looked frantically at the entrance of the moon pool. "You need to leave, now!"

A huge thud was heard by the two of them.

Zac swam in front of Evie to protect her.

"What was that?" Evie asked in fear.

Zac took a deep breath. "The dragon."

They panted in fear as rocks fell from the ceiling.

Zac started to stutter. "Oh… its coming. Get behind me!" Zac pushed her even further behind him. They stared at the entrance as the dragon they feared so much, rose from the water.

It growled as the two teens looked up at it in fear.

Zac tried to look intimidating. "Come on lizard breath, hit me!"

The dragon fired. Zac quickly blocked it with Turn the Tide, but it didn't seem to do anything.

Zac stared. "You can do better than that."

The dragon fired again, but Zac intercepted its throw. It didn't seem to harm the dragon at all.

Evie couldn't stand back and do nothing, so she swam in front of her boyfriend.

"Leave him alone!" she screamed at it.

Zac reached out to her in fear. "Evie!"

Evie thrusted out her fist and shined her moon rings power towards the beast, but with no success. The water dragon fired its icy breath towards her, completely engulfing her. She sank below the water, unconscious and not moving.

Zac dove after her. He brought her to the surface, cradling her head and her legs under his arms.

Zac shook her. "Evie? Talk to me, Evie!" She didn't respond. Her head rolled to the side. The water dragon watched them. It leaned down to sniff Zac before retreating back into the water.

Zac tried again to revise the unconscious girl "Evie? Wake up, please. Evie? Talk to me, please."

Her eyes fluttered open.

"Evie," Zac whispered, clearly relived.

Groggily, Evie whispered, "Zac?" She grasped his neck. "What happened? Where's the dragon?"

Zac tried to comfort her. "It's okay. It's gone." Evie nodded.

Two figures emerged from the water. Ondina and Mimmi had arrived. The two mermaids looked at them, their eyes wide with shock.

"Evie?" Ondina cried with uncertainly looking at Evie's lower half.

Evie followed her gaze. She saw that her tail was gone. "My tail!" She cried out in a pained voice. She grasped Zac, needing his comfort more than everything now.

Hours later, Zac arrived back at his bungalow. Evie was heartbroken. He flung his door open and slammed it shut. He was so angry. He had caused the girl he loved the most the best thing in her life. To top it all off, she wouldn't really speak to him. He grabbed a glass from the table and threw it at his wall. It shattered into thousands of pieces.

He had just lost everything. His girlfriend was hurt, the pod didn't trust him anymore and his sister was betrayed. And worst of all, the dragon was still out there, preparing to take more tails away from those he loved.

His door opened once again. His parents rushed outside when the saw him walk to his room with a pained look on his face. They knew something was wrong. They were going to let him figure it out by himself and give him space, but they heard the glass break, they ran into his room.

Rob and Lauren saw tears streaming down their son's face.

"Zac?" Lauren asked in a worried whisper. Zac turned away from them and walked over to the couch, putting his face in the palms of his hands. He allowed the tears to fall freely. It was all over now. He had lost.

 **All aboard the emotional rollercoaster. Sorry about that. Please don't kill me…**

 **Did you like the spin off chapter? Did I do it justice?**

 **Now, did you guys like Evie losing her tail or do you think that she deserves it back? I mean forever is a very long time, but I am the author. And who says I change what happens? I mean, if you want me to…**

 **Thanks for reading and you can go and dry your tears now.**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	19. Chapter 19

Mimmi woke up in the moon pool. Ondina was still asleep, but that was no surprise to her. She lifted her head and sunk her tail down to the bottom of the pool. She dove under, salt water washing away her dried tears. She was still so numb. Last night had been a disaster. Evie…

She shook her head. She had to be optimistic. She would fix it. She could fix anything. She was the daughter of Nerissa, the most powerful mermaid who ever lived. How would anyone take her seriously if she couldn't give Evie back her tail? She would be the laughingstock of all the pods.

But how? How would she fix this? Weilan did say that when the water dragon took a mermaids tail, it was permanent. As long as there was a water dragon, mermaids would keep losing their tails. They would lose their connection to the sea. She was the only one capable of fixing this. It was her destiny.

" _You are not alone you know."_ Zac's voice entered her head.

Mimmi jumped back in surprise, causing ripples in the water. Ondina stirred on the other side, bit she did not awake.

She could hear Zac giggling on the other side.

" _Not…Funny…"_ she thought back to him.

" _I'm sorry, but I could feel you jump,"_ Zac responded in her mind.

A moment passed.

" _Have you talked to Evie today?"_ Mimmi asked cautiously. She could feel Zac's hesitation.

" _Not yet… I think she wants some time alone…"_ Zac answered after a moment.

" _Do you want me to talk to her?"_ Mimmi asked.

Zac responded almost immediately. _"No. I'll handle it."_

Mimmi nodded, but then remembered that her brother couldn't see her.

" _Got it."_ She leaned back against the side of the pool.

" _Can I…"_ Zac started, but then faltered out.

Mimmi sat up straighter, obviously interested. _"Can you what?"_

Zac hesitated. Mimmi could even feel that much. A cold hand rubbed the back of her neck. She jumped back in alarm. She turned around to find no one there. It was Zac's hand on his own neck. He must have been really nervous about something.

" _Spill,"_ Mimmi demanded.

" _It's my dad. He is acting really weird. Well, weirder than usual. It's almost like he knows something. Now don't freak out. He doesn't know anything, but he is acting like he does. I don't know what to do."_

" _Were you using your powers in front of them?"_ Mimmi questioned.

" _No. I am always very careful when I use them. I only use them in my bedroom,"_ Zac answered.

" _Ask them. I'm sure they will tell you what is wrong,"_ Mimmi prompted.

" _Ugh, fine. But only for you."_

Mimmi smiled as she felt her brother leave. She looked over at Ondina who was still sleeping peacefully. Mimmi chuckled and dove into the water to go and get breakfast. She can figure out what to do about Evie later. First, she needed to eat.

Zac pushed back his covers and rolled out of bed. He decided to take a "sick" day. After everything that happened, he couldn't have focused. With luck, his parents were already gone. He really didn't want to explain why he was ditching school to them. Rita would understand why he wasn't at school. She wouldn't blame him.

Zac looked at his dresser and saw a picture frame on its surface. It showed him and Evie on their one year anniversary. It was before everything happened. Before he found out who he really was. When his life was normal.

He knew that Evie would also be staying home. Her life had been turned upside-down again, in a matter of moments. It was his fault. He should have protected her.

Zac's stomach rumbled, telling him that it was time to eat. He grabbed his shoes and ran across the yard to his home. He slid open the back door and entered his home. He went to the fridge and fished out some leftover seafood. He hesitated. He really didn't want to embrace his merman side at that moment. He just wanted to be Zac Blakely, regular teenage boy. Not Zac, son of Nerissa, twin brother to Mimmi, the merman who grew up with land people and made the Mako pod leave their home. He wanted to worry about the parties his friends throw and not saving mythical creatures from a dragon made of water.

He put back the plate of seafood and decided to grab some cereal instead. He poured it into a clean bowl and drenched it in milk, being careful not to let any slosh over the sides. He brought it to the table and sat down. As he ate his breakfast, he checked his phone. There was no new messages. He was sort of surprised not to see one from Evie. He bet that she really did need space.

He went on his social media apps and checked out what was happening in the world.

"Zac?" A voice asked timidly. He jumped back in alarm. He looked up to see his mother and father at the end of the staircase.

"What are you guys doing here?" Zac asked in shock.

"I suppose that we should be asking you the same thing," Rob said, crossing his arms. "Why are you not at school?"

Zac hesitated, unsure how to answer. "I- I just needed a day off," he mumbled.

Lauren crossed the room and sat next to him. "Why? Did something happen? You seemed very upset last night," she said, placing her delicate hand over his.

Zac flinched at the sudden contact. Lauren quickly withdrew her hand.

"Yeah, something happened. Someone I care deeply about… well… she got hurt," He looked up at his parents shocked expressions. "She's fine though. Something traumatic happened…that was kind of my fault," he mumbled the last part.

"Oh Zac, I'm sure she will forgive you. Evie is a very forgiving person," Lauren said with compassion.

Zac looked up in alarm. "How do you know it was Evie?"

Lauren looked at her husband for help. He was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. He came to his wife's rescue. "Her dad called us. She was really upset last night, but wouldn't talk about it. He let her stay home from school. Just like we are letting you stay home"

Zac looked at his father. "Why aren't you at work?"

Robs eyes flicked away from his son and he glanced at the sea. "I stayed home because… well your mother and I need to talk to you about something… something that we saw."

Panic surged across Zac's body. His heart started to race. "What… what did you see?"

Rob took a deep breath. "Something impossible. Something you did."

He was pacing now, walking around the kitchen. He stopped at the sink and poured water into an empty glass. He took a careful sip.

Zac stood up and walked over to him. "What did you see?" he repeated, this time with force.

Rob turned to face him. He took a shaky breath before tossing the water at his son.

Instinct kicked in before Zac could even think. He stretched out his arm and caught the water in midair. He held the water for a second, before he realized what happened. He released his powers and the water fell to the floor, splattering by his feet. Thankfully, no water touched him.

He heard his mother gasp. He spun around to see her now standing behind her husband. Both of their eyes were wide and they were pale. Zac replayed what just happened in his head. He was now exposed.

"Zac?" Lauren asked timidly. Zac was paralyzed with fear. He had just blown everything.

"Zac? What is happening with you?" Lauren asked.

Zac looked at his parents, his eyes starting to fill with tears.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, before racing out of the door.

He heard his parents calling his name, but he ignored them. He raced to the dock, but stopped. He stared into the water. It would be so easy to jump in and swim to the pod. He would be done with it all, but he would hurt so many people.

"Zac!" His mother called. He turned around to see his parents on the other end of the dock. Lauren had her arms raised in front of her, showing Zac that they meant no harm.

Zac turned around again. "Go away," he muttered, tears still in his eyes.

He heard footsteps on the wooden dock as his parents approached. Zac felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He looked up and through his blurry vision, saw his dad looking down at him. He felt his mum brush up against his other side. They all stared out at the sea.

"Zac, please. Talk to us. Tell us the truth. There is nothing that you can say that would make us not love you," Lauren whispered.

"You say that now," Zac answered in a hurt voice.

"Whatever is going on, we can help you. I have friends that can cure whatever happened in the kitchen…" Rob started.

"Cure?" Zac cried out in frustration. He turned around to face his parents. "You can't cure anything. There is _nothing_ to cure!"

Rob was taken aback. "What happened in there, Zac, that's not normal!"

"Maybe not for you, but it is for me. It's the life that I have been hiding from you from the start."

"Zac, what are you talking about?" Lauren asked in fear.

Zac looked at his parents. They were scared. Not for him, but of him. He had to go.

"I –I can't tell you. I would be putting my family in danger."

"Family? We are your family Zac! Please tell us!" Rob cried.

"I…" Zac started. Before he could continue, a jet-ski passed by. It sent a wave over the dock, drenching the people standing there.

Zac jumped as he felt the water connect with his skin. He looked helplessly at his parents before toppling into the sea below.

 **Ummm… yeah. That happened. I could just stop here and end it on a cliffhanger… but I'm not that evil. Chapter 20 is on its way!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	20. Chapter 20

Zac crashed through the water. He sank to the bottom and floated there for a moment, stunned. He felt bubbles circle him. He turned into water and his transformation took over him. When the bubbles cleared, his tail had appeared. He looked up at the surface. Through the water, he could see his parents leaning over the edge, looking for him.

He could just swim away, but his parents deserved an explanation. He was tired of lying to them. Tired of keeping his true identity from those he loved. No more. He was done with the secrets.

He decided to send Mimmi a message. He would feel better if she was there when he explained everything. They were so close to finding out anyways. So close to the truth. ***A/N: Roll credits!***

" _Mimmi, I need your help."_

Mimmi answered almost immediately.

" _What's wrong?"_ She asked, panicking.

" _It's my parents. My dad threw water at me, but I caught it. He must have caught me before using my powers and he wanted to be certain."_

" _Where are you now?"_

" _In the bottom of the canal…."_ Zac thought sheepishly. _"I got splashed by a passing jet-ski. I didn't have time to run. I'm tired of lying to them. I'm going to tell them the truth. The whole truth. Can you stop over to help?"_

Mimmi paused on the other end. _"I'll be there as soon as I can. Hang in there Zac. I love you."_

" _I love you too."_

Zac felt Mimmi leave his mind. He looked back at the surface. His parents were waiting for him to surface. They knew he was a strong swimmer, after being a lifeguard for so many years. They also knew that he could hold his breath for a long time.

Zac flicked his strong blue tail and broke through the surface. Rob and Lauren jumped back in surprise.

Their eyes widened when they saw him. Their eyes trailed own to his tail that was shimmering under the water by the sun. He flicked it a few time, both to keep him afloat and to reassure his parents that it was real.

Lauren was the first to speak. "Zac?" she asked, her eyes full of fear.

"You don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. Look, I'm done lying to you. As you can see…" he gestured to his tail. "I've been keeping something." Zac took a deep breath. "I am a merman."

Silence filled the air as Rob and Lauren filtered the news.

"But… how?" Rob questioned, his medical mind racing.

"Ummm… genetics?" Zac answered

"What he means to say is that he was born like that," a voice interrupted. Mimmi walked over to the group and stared at her brother. "You owe me a fish sandwich by the way. I was in the middle of eating lunch at the café with Ondina when you called."

Zac winced. "Is she mad?"

"She's not happy with you right now, but she understands."

"Hold on!" Rob interrupted the twins. He put his hands in a "T" shape for time-out. "You knew?"

Mimmi looked ashamed. "Um yeah…" she responded.

"How?" Lauren questioned, completely forgetting they were twins.

"From experience!" Zac called out.

Mimmi glared at him. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Lauren took a step away from Mimmi. "That means, you're a merman too?"

"Maid. I'm a mermaid. There is a difference. But yes, I am."

"How?" Lauren questioned again.

Mimmi shrugged. "Like Zac said. Genetics."

"How about we go inside and talk. I really don't want the world to know about us." Zac suggested.

Mimmi nodded and turned around as lookout.

Zac grabbed the end of the dock and hoisted himself out of the water. Even after a year of practice, his arms still trembled. He flopped to the deck, stranded like… like a fish.

Rob and Lauren took several steps back.

"There is no need to be alarmed. I won't bite," he told his parents, trying to calm them down.

"Unless you are a fish burger!" Mimmi called over.

"Not helping!" Zac shot back at her.

Lauren stared at her son's tail. Zac could see the curiosity in her eyes. "You can touch it… if you want to I mean."

Lauren nodded and bent down. She gently rubbed the scales of which Zac's knees used to be.

"Just like a fish…" she mumbled.

She looked at her husband, wanting him to also try it. Rob didn't move an inch. Lauren looked back at her son, sympathy in her eyes. They both knew that because Rob was a doctor, this would be hard for him to wrap his head around.

Lauren stood back up and wiped her hands on her jeans. Zac reached out his hand and began to steam dry his tail. His parents watched in amazement.

Soon, both Zac and the dock were dry. Zac stood up and brushed the dirt off of his pants.

Mimmi turned around. "Good, you're dry," she looked at Rob and Lauren. "Now comes the fun part." She grabbed Zac's arm and led the family to Zac's bungalow.

Rob and Lauren sat on the couch while Zac sat on the chair with Mimmi on the armrest. It brought them all back to the time when Rob and Lauren found out that Zac and Mimmi were twins. Now, they are back once again to discuss a secret.

Zac gripped Mimmi's hand for reassurance.

" _Relax. It was time. They are going to understand,"_ Mimmi thought to her brother.

" _I know, but they are going to be so angry at me for not telling them,"_ Zac responded back.

" _They will understand,"_ Mimmi repeated.

"I'm not going to ask questions right now. I'll wait until you both explain to us what just happened. Don't leave _anything_ out," Lauren told the twins. She bit her lip. She was terrified, angry and confused at the same time.

Mimmi looked at her brother. _"Do you want me to start?"_

Zac shook his head. _"No, I will. Jump in if I leave anything out."_

Mimmi nodded. _"I will."_

Rob was observing them. "What are you two doing?" he questioned.

Mimmi looked at him. She blushed. "Talking," she answered.

Rob paled. "Through… through your minds?" he asked hesitantly.

Mimmi nodded. "It's a power that only twins can do."

"P-Power? Is that how Zac was able to control water?" Lauren asked trembling.

"Yeah. It's a power that every natural merfolk possesses," Mimmi explained.

Rob swallowed deeply. "So… mermaids really exist."

"Mermen too," Zac interrupted. Mimmi glared at him. He just shrugged at her.

"The story?" Lauren urged.

"Um yeah. Let's go with the short version. Um… Do you remember the night when Cam and I went camping on Mako Island?"

His parents nodded.

"Well, I went into the woods to...um…do my business and I stumbled across a cliff. Out of nowhere, a part of the cliff disappeared, revealing a passageway. I walked down it and saw this wall. On the wall, there was a carving of a trident..."

Mimmi shuddered at the word. "Sorry," she apologized. "Bad memory."

"Anyways," Zac continued. "I felt drawn to it and when I touched it, it glowed. My feet sank through the floor and I fell into a pool. I blacked out and when I woke up, I was on Mako's beach. Cam thought I was sleepwalking. I believed him for a while. That is until I discovered that I grow a tail whenever I come in contact with water." He paused while his parents took it all in.

"I also got these powers." He demonstrated by lifting his hand and making a ball of water rise up from a nearby glass. "But you've already seen this one," he said as he lowered the ball back into the cup.

"Is that all you can do?" Lauren asked in a whisper.

Mimmi and Zac looked at each other and laughed.

"Nope, we can freeze, heat and gel water. We can make things move with just a wave of our hands. Oh, and we can go invisible. All of this without a moon ring!" Mimmi answered.

"Moon…ring?" Lauren repeated slowly.

Mimmi held up her right hand. The brilliant blue stone shimmered in the sunlight. It shifted colors; from an electric blue, to a deep violet. Lauren's breath caught in her throat as she admired its beauty.

"A moon ring holds the power of the full moon, which is the source of our powers. The full moon also broke the spell that Zac was placed under by our mum when she brought him to land. If he didn't fall into the moon pool on a full moon, he might still be under the spell. That is until our 18th birthday when it would disappear."

Rob and Lauren stared with wide eyes at her.

" _Maybe we should slow down and talk about that stuff later,"_ Zac suggested.

Mimmi blushed. _"Sorry."_

"Back to the story," Zac suggested. His parents nodded in unison. "I found out I had these amazing powers and I thought that no one in the world like me. I made friends with Lyla, Nixie and Sirena. You remember them. What I didn't know was that they too were mermaids. The same mermaids that had witnesses my transformation. They were in the moon pool when I fell and the pod banished them for letting a land- boy be in the moon pool…"

Mimmi interrupted him. "The pod is a group of mermaids that lives around Mako. There are several pods around the world. Zac and I were born in the Northern pod. Non- mers are called land-people. Mermaids see mermen as dangerous due to a war thousands of years ago. Him being a merman and a land- boy was a disaster," she explained. Lauren and Rob nodded as they understood.

"Yeah. I found out that they were mermaids and they were not happy with me that I had the trident…" He paused. "Later story. At the end, I tried to show the pod that I was not a threat by destroying the trident."

He then looked at Mimmi and waited.

"My turn?" she asked. Zac nodded.

"Okay. Well the entire pod knew about Zac, but most of us saw him as a threat. Ondina and I wanted to stop him all together. And yes, before you ask, Ondina is a mermaid. She wanted to try because she is a problem solver. I went with her because of our mum. Like I said, Zac and I were born in the Northern Pod. Our mother Nerissa, was the most powerful mermaid to ever live. She mated with a merman and got pregnant with twins. Zac wouldn't have been safe with the sea so she gave him to you to raise. I was taken to the Southern Pod to grow up, as the Northern Pod was becoming very dangerous. Nerissa disappeared soon after. Being a Northern mermaid, I had different powers that could come in handy."

"Or make things worse." Zac mumbled.

Without even looking, Mimmi slapped him in the arm with the back of her hand.

"We came on land with Sirena, met a jerk of a merman named Erik, and tried to take away Zac and Evie's tails."

Rob choked on the water he was drinking. "Evie?! Evie is a mermaid too?"

Mimmi and Zac looked down ashamed.

"She was. That was until yesterday when the water dragon took her tail away," Mimmi reported with tears in her eyes.

"We will get to that later," Zac replied, drawing his sister into a hug.

"Does her father know?" Lauren asked.

Zac shook his head. "And please don't tell him. This is Evie's secret to tell if she does decide to tell him."

Lauren and Rob both nodded, for they didn't want to make Evie upset if they didn't have to. It wasn't their secret to tell.

Mimmi took a deep breath and continued. "On night, we were in the Merman chamber, a place built by our ancestors on Mako, when we discovered that the reason why we couldn't remove Zac's powers was because he was born at sea as a merman. We also discovered that we were twins."

"And that is how you discovered that you were adopted," Rob said, finally understanding.

Zac nodded. "I was really hurt at first, but Mimmi is persistent and wouldn't give up on me." He smiled at her. Mimmi grinned back and squeezed his hand.

"We defeated Erik who wanted to activate the merman chamber and suck the magic out of all mermaids. It was around that time when you guys found out that we were twins." Mimmi finished.

"Woah. That's a lot to take in." Lauren mumbled.

"I know, and you dint have to accept it right now. You don't even have to be a part of it if you don't want to. I can keep it all away from you. You don't have to worry." Zac said in a rush.

"Oh, Zac. We want to be a part of this. We don't want you to feel like you have to hide anything from us anymore. Right Rob?" Lauren asked.

Rob was silent though. He was staring out of the window.

"Dad?" Zac asked. Rob didn't seem to have heard him. Zac looked at his sister for help.

"You can take time to process this. You don't have to worry about us. We can handle everything by ourselves. We really were not planning on dragging you into this mess," Mimmi said.

Lauren looked at Mimmi with interest. "What mess? Is there more to this story?"

Rob closed his eyes, obviously not wanting to hear anymore.

" _We should stop. Your dad seems very upset as it is. We can just tell them later,"_ Mimmi thought to her brother.

" _I already said that I am done keeping things from them."_

"Nope," Lauren said shaking her head.

The twins both raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"No more communication through…" Lauren waved her hands in the air. "Mind speak. Whatever you are saying to each other, you can say to us. Now spill."

Mimmi took a deep breath. "It's about the water dragon that we mentioned earlier. It is threating the pods."

"Threatening?" Lauren repeated.

Mimmi nodded. "It forms during the full moon and its main purpose is to take away every mermaids tails. We really don't know what to do with it."

"That is why you are so upset Zac." Rob finally spoke, making the connection. He looked at his son and met his eyes.

"Yeah, Evie lost her tail last night. It upset us all. We are all hurting."

"So Evie is…was a mermaid?" Lauren questioned

"Yes, but she was only a half- mermaid. She was at the right place at the right time I guess." Mimmi answered.

"The moon pool?" Lauren guessed.

Mimmi nodded. "Zac tried to defeat it last night. We don't know why the water dragon didn't take his tail. So many people are getting hurt. We are doing the best we can, but we are failing."

"Well," Lauren said standing up from the couch. "Now you have us to help you."

Zac and Mimmi looked at each other.

"What?" Lauren asked, noticing their confusion. "Do you really think that we will let you fight by yourselves? Sure, we can't be there personally to fight, but I'm sure we can find other ways to help. Right Rob?"

Rob was silent once again. He looked over at the twins. "Is it permeant?" He whispered.

Zac narrowed his eyes at his father. "Is what permeant Dad?" He asked, his voice bitter. Mimmi could tell that her brother was choosing his words carefully.

Rob swallowed deeply. "Everything. All that has happened?"

Zac's eyes went dark. Mimmi could feel her twin's anger. She felt her body heating up in frustration as her body copied her brothers. She put her hand on Zac's chest to prevent him from getting up off of the chair.

She turned to Rob. "It is. There is nothing anyone could do to take away his powers. Trust me, we've tried. The only thing that can take away his tail is…"

"The water dragon." Lauren finished. She sat back down next to her husband. She turned to him. "Do you really want your son to go against the thing that hurt Evie? To be normal again?" She placed her hands over her husbands. "Rob, this is normal for Zac. We just have to accept this." She looked back over at her son and his sister. "I accept it."

Zac settled back into the couch cushions. He was finally relaxing. Rob however, was not.

He stood up from the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. He turned to look at the teens. "I'm trying. It's going to take some time though."

The twins nodded. "But, I am willing to do whatever it takes to stop this menace. You both are not alone. We will fight as a family." He nodded to the twins.

Zac got off of the chair and went to hug his dad. They hugged for a moment before Lauren walked over and joined them.

Mimmi stood awkwardly, watching the family hug. Rob pulled away and held his arm out for Mimmi. She hesitated though.

"It's a group hug. You are part of this family now and that means you will have to deal with group hugs. You are my daughter right?" Rob asked.

Mimmi smiled and nodded, tears brimming her eyes. She ran over to the group and joined the hug. She felt safe in between the arms of her brother and her… her father.

They pulled away after a few moments. Lauren and Mimmi both were whipping tears from their eyes.

Lauren turned to Mimmi. "Now, there is one last thing that we need to be settled. I think that it is time for you to start calling me mum and Rob dad." She raised her eyebrows.

Mimmi bit her lip and nodded. "You got it… mum."

Lauren smiled brightly. "Good."

Rob cleared his throat. "Mimmi, can I ask you a personal question?"

Mimmi raised her eyebrows. "I guess." She looked at her brother who just shrugged.

"Can we… um… may we… um… see your tail?" Rob's face went red.

Mimmi laughed. It lightened up the room as her laugh was as light as an ocean breeze. "Is that all? I thought you were going to ask if I am dating or something like that."

Lauren grinned. "Are you?"

A blush fluttered over Mimmi's cheeks. "We can talk about that later."

Lauren giggled. Rob was still a deep red, not sure if he crossed a line or not.

"Brother Dearest?" Mimmi said with a posh tone. She turned to Zac. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Zac bowed deeply. "Of course my lovely twin that I shared our mother's womb with for nine consecutive months. I would be honored."

Mimmi rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You are hopeless."

Zac grinned deviously and picked up the abandoned glass of water. Mimmi took a deep breath and nodded. The water from the glass flew onto Mimmi and hit her skin. She could feel it being absorbed into her cells as the magic that turned her human resided. She always loved that feeling.

Zac was silently counting to ten in his head. Mimmi could hear it.

" _Four…Three… Two… One…"_

Mimmi was incased in water, her cells going back to their originally state. When they were in the midst of their transformation, time slowed down for them. Mimmi could feel her legs knitting back together, as her skin fused. She could feel the bones in her legs going from two separate limbs, to one powerful tail. Mimmi felt her glimmering golden- orange scales reappear. To her, they tickled a bit when they appeared. The soft fabric of her white cotton tee was replaced by the same tickling sensation as her lower half. She felt her scales appear over her breasts and wrap around the nape of her neck as they joined together. The cold wind blew against her now bare torso. Her hair fell from the high ponytail that she was wearing and landed gracefully on her shoulders in soft, chocolatey waves. All she could see was the magical water of the moon pool that now incased her. It was its special magic that gave her life and that allowed her to be on land with her family. She could even smell its salty aroma. It was breathtaking. The water retreated, disappearing into the air and left Mimmi standing on the tip of her tail.

Mimmi groaned as she slumped forward. She placed her arms out to cushion her fall, though it did very little. Her powerful tail slapped the hardwood floor. Its impact made the items on the shelves shake.

"Ow," Mimmi groaned. She shook her hair out of her face and looked up at her brother. He smirked at her. "We should have planned that better." She moaned.

"It's your fault. You could have settled down on the couch. You should have thought about that before you asked me to splash you." He replied.

Mimmi just glared at him. Rob and Lauren were silent, their eyes wide.

"You just completely turned into water." Lauren whispered in awe. She crouched down next to Mimmi's head and looked into Mimmi's eyes. A smile blossomed across her lips as she stared at Mimmi's tail. Mimmi smiled back up at her.

"We turn to water when the transformation overtakes us," Mimmi admitted.

"What was it like in there?"

Mimmi smiled. "I can't really explain it."

Lauren hesitantly reached out and stroked the back of Mimmi's tail. Her fingers trailed over the ridges on the back.

"It's…it's gold," Lauren muttered.

Mimmi smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, mermaids have golden- orange tails and mermen have dark blue."

"Can you change the color?" Wondered Lauren.

Mimmi shook her head. "What you see is what you get."

Lauren dared to touch even lower. She stretched her arm and her fingers brushed Mimmi's fluke. Mimmi shivered a bit as Laurens fingers tickled her scales.

Lauren noticed Mimmi's shiver. "Can you feel this?" She asked.

The brunette nodded. "Our tails are very sensitive. That way we can feel even the slightest abnormality in the water and escape danger."

Mimmi felt Laurens fingers leave her tail. She looked up and saw Lauren looking at her fingers in awe. She was inspecting them like she was expecting some residue to be on them.

"And it's the same way with the scales on your chest?" Rob piped up, finally joining the conversation.

Mimmi reached up to brush a lock of dark hair away from her eyes. She looked at him and nodded once again.

Rob scratched his head, his medical mind going wild.

"What is your DNA like? How much of your cellular level is different than ours? Do you breathe through gills? What does your skeleton look like?" Rob fired out.

Zac walked over and crouched down next to his sister and began to steam dry her tail. He would let his sister answer the questions.

"I don't know, a decent amount, we don't have gills but we can hold our breath for a long period of time, and I don't even want to know." Mimmi answered as steam rose from her tail. Lauren watched with amazement.

Once she was dry, she reached for Zac's outstretched hand and stood up. She looked around the room.

"I should really get going. Ondina is going to fire questions at me and I want to get them over with." She turned to her brother. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Zac smiled and embraced her. "Be safe." He whispered into her ear.

She nodded. _"You too. They seem to be handling this alright. Don't say anything stupid and try not to worry them."_ She thought to him.

They released one another and Mimmi gave a small wave to Rob and Lauren before exiting the bungalow. They heard a splash from the canal.

Lauren chucked. "I'm guess she is going back to Mako."

Zac nodded. "Ondina is going to be pissed at me in the morning, but I'm glad you guys know."

Lauren walked over and pulled her son into a hug. "Us too sweetheart."

She released him but still held onto his shoulders. She looked into Zac's eyes. "Try and get some sleep."

Zac looked out of the window, unaware that it had gotten so late. He nodded to his mother. "I will."

He bid his parents goodnight before closing the door behind them. Once it was shut, he turned around and slid his back down the door. He sat on the floor with a thump.

" _That could have been a lot worse,"_ He thought to Mimmi.

She responded immediately. _"Just be thankful that you don't have to endure Ondina's wrath until tomorrow."_ She teased.

" _Should we have told them about Rita?"_

Mimmi hesitated. _"Like you said with Evie, it's her secret to tell. Have a good night."_

" _You too."_

Zac felt Mimmi leave his mind before sighing in relief. Now that his secret is out, he had one less thing to worry about. Now, all he had to do was defeat the water dragon and save the pod.

 **THE SECRET IS OUT! Did you like it? Sorry for the cliffhanger. I originally intended to have Rob and Lauren find out in chapter 7, but things change. More things are coming your way. I'm planning on…**

 **Wrapping up the water dragon**

 **Putting more of Lauren and Rob chapters**

 **Chris and Mimmi fluff**

 **New characters that add drama and heartache for some original characters**

 **A new problem that our lovely characters must face**

 **My input on Nerissa**

 **The original owner of the purple book**

 **Some information on Zac and Mimmi's biological father**

 **Zac and Mimmi bonding**

 **AND AN ASTROID DESTROYING THE EARTH!**

 **(Okay… I'm joking about the last one. There is no asteroid. I repeat… No…Asteroid...)**

 **Did you like this super long chapter? I know that many of you would love to have 4,000+ words every time, but that is not possible. I have to have at least two chapters finished before I update. So, by the time you read this, know that chapter 21 is already finished. When I do write these super long chapters, they are important to the plot and I wanted to incorporate more detail. This chapter took me 11 pages and at least 3 days to complete. I tend to write these during my study hall or when I have some free time at school. I know that the 1,000+ chapters do not give you everything you want, but by having shorter chapters, I am able to update more. I think that you all would rather have chapters sooner instead of super long chapters that take forever to update. If not, let me know.**

 **Thanks so much for all the love and support. Without your love, this story wouldn't have been possible. Your wonderful feedback is what keeps me writing. I love you all!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	21. Chapter 21

The next morning, Zac was hesitant to see his parents. They assured them that they will keep his secret and that he could talk to them.

He entered the main house to grab something quick and easy for breakfast before heading off to school. He talked to Evie last night and told her what had happened. She seemed concerned at first, but after Zac assured her that they were all safe, she was able to relax. She was feeling up to talk about her missing tail. She said that she was upset about losing it, but they had bigger things to worry about. After they defeated the water dragon, only then they could think about getting her tail back.

As Zac walked through the back door, he was instantly hit with the smell of fish. Fish platters from the café covered the table. Lauren was setting a plate down at Zac's usual place.

"Um, morning?" Zac said.

Lauren turned around and smiled really big. "Good morning honey. How did you sleep?" She asked way too cheerfully for anyone up at this hour.

"Pretty well. What is all this?" Zac asked, gesturing to the mountain of seafood.

Lauren looked around. "Breakfast!" she answered still smiling. "We can't have you fighting an evil dragon on an empty stomach now can we?"

"I guess not." Zac replied, settling down in his chair.

Usually, he liked having seafood for breakfast, but this morning, he wanted to get away from the sea. He would have been happy with toast or cereal like he normally had. He decided not to hurt his mother's feelings and eat the breakfast.

"So where did you get all this?" Zac questioned as he bit down into a lobster tail.

Lauren was humming as she poured her son a glass of water.

"The café. Why didn't you tell me that David knew about you? I had to call your sister at the principal's house to ask her who else knows. Carly knows too huh?" Lauren asked, setting down the water next to Zac's plate.

Zac, now uncomfortable, decided to take a sip of the water that his mother had just placed in front of him. She even added a straw so he wouldn't spill.

Zac was expecting fresh water, but got the completely opposite. He coughed and spat the salt water all over his plate of food. He continued to cough as his mother looked at him with concern. He pushed his chair back and stumbled over to the sink with his glass in hand. He poured out the salt water and replaced it with fresh as he continued to cough. He then gulped the fresh liquid down greedily.

"What was that for?" He about screamed at his mother.

Lauren went pale.

"I- I thought that you liked salt water." She said stumbling.

"To swim yes, but not to drink." Zac replied, placing his palm over his eyes.

Lauren's voice broke again. "I-I didn't know."

Zac sighed. "I know you didn't. I'm sorry I snapped at you," he said, dropping his hand back down to his side. "Here, let me help you clean it up."

Zac moved to the table to help clear the mess, but Lauren shooed him away. "No, it's fine. You should go. You don't want to be late for school." She said, her voice shaky. She sniffed and used the back of her hand to wipe at her eyes.

"Mum…" Zac started but was immediately cut off.

"I said it is fine. Go and learn something useful." She ushered him out the door with the wave of her hand. Her hair was blocking her face as she bent over to clean up the mess. Zac couldn't see her eyes, but he knew that they would have been full of tears.

"If you insist," he said, kissing his mum on the top of her head before grabbing his book bag from the hall and hurrying outside.

As soon as he left, Lauren sat in the chair that Zac had abandoned. She placed her face in the palm of her hands and wept.

Mimmi was passing through at that time. She wanted to see her brother before he went off to school and possibly would walk with him there. She knocked on the bungalow, but there was no response. She tried the doorknob. Locked.

Mimmi was about to turn around to head back to Rita's when she heard a faint sob. She turned and looked at the main house. It seemed to be coming from inside. Was someone hurt?

The brunette hurried to the door. She knocked softly and cracked open the door. "Hello?" she called out. There was no response, but the soft crying immediately ceased.

Mimmi built up her courage and stepped inside. "Is anyone home? It's Mimmi," she said calmly.

Again there was no response. All she heard was plates being moved. This was followed by a crash that came from the kitchen. Mimmi ran towards the noise and arrived in the kitchen. Lauren was kneeling on the tile floor picking up shards of broken glass, tears silently falling down her cheeks.

"Lauren!" Mimmi cried out and rushed to her side. Lauren looked up. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"I'm alright darling. I just dropped a plate," she responded in a shaky voice.

Mimmi carefully avoided the glass as she bent down next to the distraught woman. "Laur- eh, Mum. What happened? Are you hurt?" she scanned the woman for any signs of injury.

Lauren shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm just a klutz."

Mimmi carefully helped Lauren up off the ground and led her to the couch. The both sat down and Mimmi gripped both of Laurens hands in her own.

"Mum, what happened? Are you okay?" Mimmi asked timidly, observing Laurens fragile state.

Lauren started to nod, but it quickly turned into a sob.

Mimmi pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly. Lauren cried into her hair.

"W-Won't my tears make you transform?" Lauren questioned in a small but worried tone.

Mimmi carefully shook her head. "Bodily liquids won't change us. Tears are fine so let them all out."

Lauren happily obliged. She sobbed into Mimmi's hair as Mimmi held her close. They stayed like this for a few minutes, as Lauren soon composed herself.

She sat back and wiped her eyes. "I'm a mess," she croaked.

Mimmi laughed. "I'm sure that there is no one on land or in the sea that looks beautiful when crying."

Lauren giggled at the slightest. "That is very true."

Mimmi smiled. "Now, will you please tell me what is bothering you? I'm 99% sure that you are crying over a broken plate."

Lauren inhaled sharply. "It's your brother. I don't know how to deal with this news. I'm trying to help, but I don't know the first thing about raising a merman."

Mimmi snorted. "There is nothing new that you have to learn. Just treat him like you did before you found out. Nothing has changed. He is still the same Zac that you know and love."

"But I feel so awkward around him. I want to be more involved with his life in the sea, but I have no clue what goes on over there," Lauren responded sighing.

"I'm guessing that all of this seafood is for him." Mimmi gestured back at the kitchen.

Lauren nodded miserably.

"Even _I_ get sick of seafood sometimes and I grew up eating it. You don't need to change your cooking skills for him. He's a boy. He will eat whatever you prepare. Don't worry." Mimmi assured her.

Lauren nodded again. "I even gave him salt water to drink," she mumbled under her breath.

Mimmi couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, we don't drink salt water. If you want, I can get you a mermaid cookbook. There is a bunch of easy recipes that does not require any hard to find ingredients or magic."

Lauren inhaled sharply. "I would like that. Thanks." She reached over and hugged Mimmi again.

Mimmi smiled and nodded. "Now," she said, getting off of the couch. Laurens eyes followed her sudden movement. "To fix the mess in the kitchen."

The brunette walked back to the kitchen with Lauren on her heels. They both stared at the mess on the kitchen floor.

Mimmi stretched out her right hand and pointed her moon ring at the mess. She willed its magic and a brilliant blue light filled the room. The shards flew up from the floor and mended itself right before their eyes. Lauren watched in amazement as the plate flew back into its spot with the rest of the dished.

The blue light dissipated and Mimmi blew on her ring like a cowboy blows on their steaming gun. Weilan had gotten her into Western movies.

"And voila." Mimmi announced, spreading her arms wide.

"That was incredible!" Lauren said with appreciation.

Mimmi grinned. "There is nothing that mermaid magic cannot fix."

"How about my husband's mind?" Lauren blurted out.

Mimmi's arms dropped to her sides. "Is he still upset?"

Lauren sighed. "Not upset. He's more confused. He keeps mumbling under his breath something about a cure. I know that it was risky, Zac telling us, with Rob being a doctor. I know that he will not put either of you in danger, but I think that his medical mind wants to find a way to change you."

Mimmi huffed in anger. "But that's impossible. There is no way to change a naturally born mer. It can't be done!"

"And he knows that, but I don't think that he wants to give up the last sliver of reality."

Mimmi sighed. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

Lauren smiled. "I would like that. Give him answers. Let him find some stability. He is at work right now. It is Wednesday after all and he missed yesterday."

Mimmi nodded. "I'll come by tomorrow evening. I having a girl's night with Ondina tonight. She really didn't talk to me yesterday night so today is the big confrontation. I'm actually late to meet her. I should really go."

Lauren hugged her good bye and Mimmi exited the house. She watched out the window as Mimmi dove off of the dock and into the water.

 **So, Lauren and Rob aren't doing as well as we hoped. Lauren doesn't know how to care for Zac and Rob hasn't accepted it. Talk about drama in the Blakely's household.**

 **I am having problems with friends right now. My best friend is having a disagreement with another close friend. Can't I just eat my lunch in peace? When I write, I can get my focus off of the drama and escape into the wonderful world of Fanfiction. So thanks. The more you guys read this and comment your ideas, the more I can be happy and just be able to let my creativity flow.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	22. Chapter 22

Mimmi entered the moon pool in no time. She was thinking about what Lauren said to her about talking to Rob. She had no idea how to approach this. Maybe Ondina had an idea.

She broke through the water and shook the droplets away from her eyes. She looked around and spotted Ondina sitting on the ledge that was beneath the surface. She flicked her tail lazily as she crossed her arms when she saw Mimmi.

"Well look who is back," Ondina smirked.

Mimmi settled on the opposite side of the pool. She couldn't help but notice that her best friend was looking at her strangely. It was almost like Ondina was mad at her. Either that or she was disappointed.

"How's Zac?" Ondina asked.

Mimmi shrugged. "I don't know. He left before I was able to talk to him."

Ondina uncrossed her arms. "But you were over there for a long time. What happened?"

"Lauren. She is having a hard time adjusting. I guess she is trying to make life as comfortable as possible for a merman. She even ordered a lot of food from the café for Zac's breakfast."

"Yum," Ondina licked her lips as her stomach grumbled. "Good, I'm starving." She started to dive below the water but Mimmi motioned her to stop.

"Can you think of something besides your stomach for five minutes?"

Ondina glared at her. "Why do you care so much? Life is never going to be the same for you and for Zac ever again. I suggest you leave the land people and focus on more important threats to the pod."

"Ondina!" Mimmi cried in outrage,

Ondina shrugged. "It's true. You need to get your head out of the air and back in the water."

Mimmi's jaw dropped. "How can you say that? They are my family."

"The pod is your family. I've already told you that." Ondina reached up over the side of the pool to grab a piece of coral and began to file her nails."

Mimmi narrowed her eyes. She was starting to get annoyed. "Actually, Zac is my only biological family left. You are just a friend so you really don't have a say in my life."

This time, it was Ondina's turn to get offended. "I have no say? Huh, that's funny. Who dragged you along to land and helped you meet your biological family?" She made air quotes when she said biological. "Who held you when you were crying over your runaway mother?"

Those words were like a slap across Mimmi's face. "You have no right to bring my mother up." Mimmi said bitterly.

Ondina threw her hands up in the air, the coral falling into the water. "Well I'm sorry. Now excuse me for asking, but where was your family then? Huh? Where was your family when you would wake up in the middle of the night, crying out for Nerissa? Where was your family when you were new to the pod and the other mermaids made fun of you for being different? Where was your family when you only had one friend? Where were they Mimmi?"

Mimmi's rage exploded. "STOP!" she screamed. The temperature in the moon pool water around them started to rise, slowly but surely. When Mimmi was angry, she was dangerous.

Ondina did not back down. "I was there to soothe you back to sleep. I was there to tell the other mermaids to back off. I was that only friend. I guess I spent all of that time and effort to help you fit in for nothing. Glad I finally understand."

The water's temperature was still continuing to rise. The water started to bubble and Ondina now was starting to feel uncomfortable.

She looked over and saw that Mimmi's hands were outstretched. She was the one causing the dramatic shift in the water. Ondina then remembered that Mimmi had a hard time controlling her powers when she was emotional. "Mimmi, stop. You are making the temperature rise. It's getting way too hot in here."

Mimmi didn't seem to hear her. She was blinded by her emotions and that caused the water to become even hotter.

The moon pool water started to steam. Ondina had to use her powers to try and cool it down, but Mimmi's magic was far superior. The water bubbled and Ondina cried out in pain. She realized that she made a mistake.

The wind on the island began to pick up and it whipped Mimmi's hair around her face. Her deep blue eyes were full of anger. She scowled at her companion as the water heated up even more.

"M-Mimmi," Ondina cried out. The water was almost unbearable. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things. I was jealous."

"Jealous?" Mimmi said darkly. "Jealous that I finally found people that accept me? Or are you just jealous of my abilities? Are you just apologizing because you know that I am more powerful than you?"

Ondina shook her head as tears streamed down her face. "Please…Stop!"

Mimmi was angry though. She knew that she shouldn't let her emotions get the better of her, but she had been under so much stress lately, she just snapped. She was worried about defeating the water dragon. She was confused with her and Chris's relationship. She was scared that she was going to lose her tail. She was concerned about Rob and Lauren finding out their secret. Most of all, she was furious with Ondina for treating this like it was one, big joke.

She was going to release all of her frustrations through her powers. She was going to hurt her best friend, as her good judgement was clouded by hurt.

" _Take a deep breath."_ Zac's voice interrupted her anger.

Mimmi thought back to him. _"You…Don't…Understand!"_ she shot back angrily.

" _I do understand. I can feel your anger like it is my own. Right now, I am sweating in English class, so you are obviously heating up something. Now, take a deep breath so we both don't burst into flames. That will be hard to explain to my teacher."_

Ondina watched as the anger was slowly retreating in her best friend's eyes. She took a deep, shaky breath. Ondina realized that she must be talking to Zac. She sighed as the water slowly cooled. Mimmi was distracted she talked to her brother.

" _There, I took a deep breath. Happy now?"_ She wondered.

She heard Zac's mind chuckle. _"Very. Now I am not dripping. Now what happened? Why are you so upset?"_

Mimmi's guard went back up instantly. _It doesn't matter. Go back to playing attention in class."_ She ended her end of the conversation.

Zac on the other hand wasn't done talking to her. He started to panic, wanting to know more. _"Wait. What happened? Mimmi, don't shut me out. I'm not the bad guy here."_

Mimmi decided to ignore him and block the conversation. They both had been practicing on keeping their own thoughts to themselves and only mind speak- the name Weilan gave to their new ability- when they intended to.

Ondina looked at her with wide eyes. The water had finally returned to its normal temperature.

"Look Mimmi. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Mimmi cut her off with a wave of her hand. "It's fine. Now if you would excuse me, I need to go and take some time to myself."

"Wait, don't you want to talk…" Ondina started.

Mimmi dove out of the water and swam out of the moon pool, leaving her best friend behind.

She out of the moon pool and settled down on the privet side of the island. She was on the opposite side of the pod, the part facing away from the main land. When she was little, she and Ondina found a secluded part of the island. Because it was so small and was far away from the moon pool, the pod had no interest in it. They really didn't have any interest to the dry parts of the island. It was surrounded by currents, riptides Mako sharks so the land people never journeyed out.

Ondina and Mimmi loved to talk their though. The pod never bothered them there. There was some tall rocks that block them from the view of any passing boats. When the pod was using the moon pool and they needed to talk in privet, they would head to that part of the island.

Mimmi grasped the shore and hulled herself up. She dragged her golden- orange tail over the sand and propped herself up on her elbows. The sun began to dry her tail.

Her eyes began to cloud over as tears emerged in her eyes. She wiped them away with the back of her hand sat there in silence as the sun beat down on her.

She reflected what just happened. She lost control. She hadn't done that since she was younger and still mastering her powers. Now, she almost hurt her best friend. What was happening to her?

Mimmi turned over and finished drying her tail. When she was finished, she stood up. She brushed the sand off of her legs and straightened her light purple skirt. She smoothed her white shirt and took off her black flip- flops. She grasped them and walked away from the sea. She slid her back down a palm tree, pulled her legs up to her chest and began to cry.

 **I know, this isn't the longest chapter, but I wanted to end it there. Mimmi is having a really hard time. I guess she isn't the only one.**

 **I am still fighting with my best friend. At the time I was writing this, I just had a fight with my parents. I guess my own emotions leaked into this chapter. Sorry for it not being more uplifting. I guess that even our favorite characters have bad days too.**

 **I hoped you semi liked this chapter, even though it was depressing. I'll update soon. I promise. I guess there is still things in my life that makes me happy. Writing is one of them.**

 **Also Princess of Mako: I kind of like the nickname you gave me. So go ahead and call me Moon.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**

 **(P.S. on the day I uploaded this, my best friend and I made up. We are totally fine and the next chapters will be happier. Xoxo)**


	23. Chapter 23

Mimmi hasn't returned to the moon pool yet and Ondina was worried. Usually, after they had a fight, Mimmi would swim away, cool down for a few hours, and then return back to the moon pool to talk things through. She hadn't returned yet, and it was almost dinner time. Ondina went searching for her when she went to gather lunch, but she wasn't successful. The sea creatures were being less than helpful. The dolphins didn't seem to grasp the meaning of the word important. They just wanted to play.

After her unsuccessful search, she decided to wait at the moon pool for her friend to return. She knew that Mimmi would return when she was ready to talk, but it was getting late and there was no sign from her.

Back on land, Zac was facing a similar dilemma. After he started to overheat in English class, he knew that something was up with his twin. He tried on many occasions to try and reach her through mind speak, but she never answered him. He wanted to know who or what set her off earlier today and there would only be one person who knew.

"Mum?" Zac called out as he put away his homework. He couldn't concentrate as all he could focus on was Mimmi.

"Yes sweetheart?" Lauren called back from somewhere upstairs.

"I'm heading to Mako."

Zac heard frantic footsteps coming down the stairs as his mother entered the kitchen.

"Why? What's going on?" she asked worriedly.

"It's Mimmi. She got angry earlier today and it affected me. When I asked her what happened, she shut me out. Now, I'm going to go and talk to Ondina to see what happened."

"And when you said that you asked her, you mean that you… um…" she trailed off and put her index finger to her forehead.

Zac nodded. "Yeah, mind speak. She is blocking our connection, so I want to go and see if I can help."

Lauren reached out and grabbed Zac's arm before he could turn away.

"Is there any way I can help?" she asked, her eyes full of concern and curiosity.

Zac smiled at his mother's eagerness to help, but he shook his head. "This is something that I think only her big brother can handle. I'll call you if I need help. I promise." He placed a gentle kiss onto his mother's cheek before racing out of the door and diving into the canal.

Lauren watched as Zac's blue fin came out of the water for just a moment before speeding away.

Zac reached the moon pool in a matter of minutes. When he surfaced, he saw Ondina's face go from joy to frustration.

"Oh, It's just you," She grumbled, sinking back down in the water.

"Nice to see you too Ondina," Zac said playfully as he swam to the edge of the pool.

Ondina gave him a smirk. "That's not what I meant. I just thought that you were…"

Zac interrupted. "Mimmi? No I'm not, but do you know where I might find her?"

Ondina huffed in frustration. "I wish I knew. We had a fight earlier today. I was mad that she was spending so much time on land and I missed her. She took it the wrong way and we both got angry. Things escalated when she lost control of her powers though. I knew than that this was deeper than a normal best friend argument."

"I'm guessing when you said that she lost control of her powers, it had something to do with heat," Zac commented.

Ondina nodded. "She made the water heat up…" She paused. "Wait, how did you know that?"

Zac grinned. "She made me heat up in class. What happened next?"

Ondina sighed. "The water heated up to a scorching temperature. Just when I thought that I was going to be burned alive, she stopped." Ondina narrowed her eyes at Zac. "I'm guessing that had something to do with you."

Zac put his hands in the air. "Hey, I didn't want to melt into a puddle of sweat during the middle of English class."

Ondina rolled her eyes. "When I tried to talk to her afterworlds, she left the moon pool. That was hours ago and she hasn't returned."

She glanced at the entrance of the moon pool like she was checking to see if they were completely alone.

"Zac, I'm starting to get really worried. Sure, we have fought in the past, but we have always returned to each other after we have cooled down. What if she got hurt? What if she got caught in a net by land people? She could be on the way to the Marine Park right now!"

As her hysterics grew, Zac swam over and sat next to her. He draped his arm around her wet shoulders.

"Ondina, breathe, If she was hurt, I would have had a vision. If she was captured, she would contact me. She is fine," he said, trying to assure her.

Ondina took a deep breath. "Do you think you could, I don't know, force a vision to see where she is?"

Zac hesitated. Sure, with much concentration, they were able to sometimes force concentration. They were always together though when they practiced. He wasn't sure that he would be able to concentrate due to the fact that he too was worried about Mimmi, and therefore, his emotions were high.

Ondina was trembling beneath Zac's arm as she cried silently.

Zac at least had to try. Both for Ondina and Mimmi's sake, and to see if he could really do it.

He pulled his arm away from Ondina and she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"I'll try."

Ondina nodded her thanks as she wiped her tears away.

Zac took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He focused on his sister's face…her warm blue eyes…her chocolate hair… her bright smile…the way that she always smelled like tropical flowers mixed with salt. Little by little, with each thought of her, the vision grew. Zac gasped as the vision became strong. He saw Mimmi curled up on a beach fast asleep. She didn't seem to be injured, just exhausted. Both physically and emotionally. The vision then faded away.

Ondina watched him with wide eyes. "Well?"

Zac sighed in relief. "She's fine. She is sleeping on a beach."

Ondina was taken aback. "Why on earth is she on a beach?"

Zac shrugged. "Do you know which beach it could be?"

Ondina hesitated. "Um…" She closed her eyes to think. She snapped her fingers suddenly. "The opposite side of the island!"

Zac raised an eyebrow. Ondina rolled her eyes.

"The opposite side of Mako. There is this little spot of land that we found a while ago, just pass the shallows. When she is mad, she tends to go there to get away. Why wasn't that the first place I looked?"

"Because you were not thinking straight, you were too emotional. Stay here and I will go and get her." Zac reassured her.

Ondina nodded. Zac smiled and dove under the water. Ondina watched as his dark blue tail disappeared out of the moon pool.

Zac traveled swiftly to the other end of the island. He grasped the edge of the beach and hulled himself up.

He quickly dried off and stood up on the sand and scanned the beach for his sister. She was on the edge of the beach, close to where the jungle started. She was curled up in a ball underneath a tree.

Zac smiled and walked over to her. He crouched down in the sand and looked at his baby sister.

It was obvious that she had a fight with Ondina. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail and there was dried tears on her face. Her mascara was smudged underneath her eyes.

Zac smiled in sympathy and gently shook her arm. Mimmi eyes snapped open. She pushed herself up and looked at her surroundings, her eyes wild.

"Shh. You are okay. It's just me" Zac assured her.

Mimmi, now realizing that he was here, looked at him with wide eyes, her breathing heavy. She nodded and took a deep breath.

Zac got off of his heels and sat back down in the sand. He patted the sand next to him with a smile. Mimmi slid over and sat next to him. She snuggled up to his chest, obviously needing his comfort. He placed his arm across her back and brought her closer to him. They sat that way for a while and stared out at the sea.

Zac felt Mimmi place her face against his shirt and began to silently sob. He let her get her tears out as he rubbed her back and made comforting noises.

After she could cry no more, she sniffed and looked up at her brother. Her normally cheery blue eyes were bloodshot and her face was pale.

Zac looked down at her.

"I lost control," she whispered, her bottom lip trembling.

Zac nodded gently. "Yeah, Ondina told me."

Mimmi looked down at the sand. "She's terrified of me now, isn't she?"

Zac pulled his arm off of her and scooted away. He sat across from her and took her small hands in his. He waited for her to look up at him.

"Ondina is terrified for you, not of you. She broke down when you didn't come back. What is wrong? What are you stressing about?"

Mimmi inhaled shakily. "I talked to La- um Mum after you left. I wanted to walk you to school, but you were already gone. Mum is having a hard time finding the right words to say to you and she broke down because she feels like she is failing as a mother. She wants me to talk to Dad because he is still freaked out and when I told Ondina this, she got angry with me. And then I got annoyed because I have two families to deal with when before I only had one. And the pod has no clue what to do with the water dragon and I feel like I am failing our birth mother because I am supposed to be the powerful. Now Ondina's scared of me because everything came to the surface and I lost control of my powers and hurt her. Now she probably hates me and I don't know how to deal with that. To top it all off, I have no clue what Chris and I are. I mean are we dating or are we just friends? How am I going to keep this secret from him? I also have to deal with work and friendships and getting at least 8 hours of sleep at night!"

All of her problems came out in a rush. Mimmi inhaled deeply to make up for her lack of oxygen. Zac stared at her for a moment, blinking his eyes a few times as he processed what Mimmi just let loose.

Mimmi looked down at the sand again when Zac didn't answer right away. "I needed some alone time to think."

Zac raised an eyebrow. "I can see that." He took a deep breath and squeezed Mimmi's hands. She looked up from the sand.

"Okay. You are not responsible for the water dragon. If the entire Eastern pod couldn't defeat it, then why does the responsibility fall on you? We are going to find a solution together. Second, you are not failing Nerissa. If she was here right now, I know that she would be so proud of you and what you have accomplished."

Mimmi blushed and smiled.

Zac continued. "Ondina understands how much stress you have been under. Anyone in their right mind would have snapped way before you did if they were under this much pressure. Fourth…" he paused. "I cannot believe that I am going to say this, but how about you ask Chris if he wants to go out sometimes. Mimmi, you are allowed to ask. There is no rule saying that you can't. I also heard from our loud-mouth Weilan that you owe him a date."

Mimmi blushed a deep red and nodded. As much as Zac wanted to keep her safe, he could see that she really liked him.

"But." Mimmi looked at him with wide eyes. "You have to bring him over to meet me first."

Mimmi smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yes dad," she responded in an annoyed tone.

Zac gave her a serious look. "It's not dad who he should be afraid of." He glared at her and then began to chuckle.

Mimmi giggled, but then went quiet. "Speaking of dad, what am I going to do?"

Zac held up his hand. "What are _**we**_ going to do?" he corrected. "You are not alone Mimmi. Remember that."

Mimmi gave him a small nod. They were silent for a moment as they thought.

"Do you think we should bring them to the grotto? Let them explore how we live on land?" Mimmi asked.

Zac shrugged. "Only if Rita is okay with it."

"I'll ask her and then tell you. How about we try Friday? I mean, it's only Wednesday so that gives us plenty of time to prepare," said Mimmi.

Zac grinned. "Let's do it. Are you ready to go talk to Ondina now?"

Mimmi bit her lip and nodded. "I need to talk to her. Wish me luck." She stood up and started to walk towards the water. Zac watched her walk to the edge before she stopped and turned around.

"Zac?"

He looked at her and tilted his head.

"Thanks for listening."

Zac smiled and nodded.

Mimmi grinned as she turned around and ran into the sea.

The merman took a deep breath. Now to talk to his parents.

 **Sibling bonding! You guys constantly ask me for it so I delivered. How did I do? I am so excited for the next few chapters. In 2 chapters (ch 25) I will be doing a spin off episode for the season finale. Then I am adding new characters and switching things up a little bit. Yay!**

 **On a side note, when I finish writing this, I have over 100 comments! How insane is that?! I remember when I got my first few comments. I was soooo happy. I might have been dancing around my kitchen. So thanks for all of them. I do read every single one and I take in mind every suggestion. So, if you want something in the story, go ahead and ask. You might just find your idea in the story.**

 **Also, sorry for not updating for a while. I was out of town during Thanksgiving. Also, to all my fellow Americans, Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoyed spending time with love ones. To all my non-American readers. I hope you had a good Thursday.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	24. Chapter 24

The conversation that Ondina and Mimmi had was interesting. Mimmi instantly broke down into tears when she saw her best friend, and Ondina sighed in relief. She was so glad that Mimmi was safe. Ondina hugged her and they both forgave each other.

She recounted the encounter with her brother and they both discuss the plan to bring Lauren and Rob to the grotto. They agreed to talk to Rita and get her permission. When they asked her, she of course said yes.

When Friday finally approached, they were ready. After school, Zac would bring his parents over to Rita's house. He told them that everyone wanted to talk to them and allow everyone to get on the same page.

Zac counted down the minuets until the final bell rang. Three more minutes until the weekend. He sighed and looked back at the front of the room and pretended to pay attention to his boring math teacher done on in a monotone voice about something. Was it decimals? Fractions? Zac had no clue.

He dared to sneak a peek behind him. He looked to the left and saw Cam fast asleep at his desk. He was resting his head on the palm of his hand as a steady stream of drool fell from the corner of his mouth. Carly sat next to him and when she met Zac's gaze, she silently giggled.

Zac smiled and looked right behind Carly where Evie sat. She was doodling in her notebook. He watched her move her hand gracefully across the paper. She looked up suddenly and smiled when she saw that she was being watched. She held up her notebook and showed Zac what she was drawing.

Marine life came to life across her notebook. She captured every detail of Mako's reef perfectly. From the stunning coral reefs, to the playful dolphins he often passed when he swam.

He nodded in approval. She blushed deeply and returned back to her work.

The only one who actually was paying attention was David. He sat next to Evie and was writing down everything the teacher was saying. He nodded when he understood what the teacher was saying and seemed to be the only one paying attention in this 8th period class on a Friday afternoon.

"Mr. Blakely!"

Zac jumped and turned back around so he was facing the front of the class. Mr. Wilkson, his math teacher, was standing right in front of his desk. He was so close that Zac could see every detail of his ugly face up close. From his pudgy black eyes, to the lack of hair on his balding head. Zac could even smell the garlic that reeked out of his mouth. What on earth did he have for lunch?

"Yes sir?" Zac asked. Wilkson glared at him.

"Will you please explain to us why we are able to do this?" Wilkson asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He raised his almost caterpillar eyebrows. He loved to pick on Zac. His favorite way of tormenting him was placing him in the front row while all of his friends sat behind him. This semester, he was placed next to Amanda Murphy. The girl who always meowed to herself and smelled strangely of cheese.

Cam always joked that Mr. Wilkson and would be perfect for each other. They both despised kids and had a plan to make everyone around them miserable.

Zac froze. What on earth was he talking about?

"Well…" he began, ready to make up some awful excuse, but by the grace of the universe, the final bell rang.

The students started to pack up their supplies and make their way out of the classroom.

Zac smiled sheepishly at Wilkson. "Sorry Mr. W. I can tell you the answer on Monday. Have a good weekend!"

Wilkson just glared at Zac. He narrowed his black beady eyes at him, before turning away and sulking back to his desk.

Zac turned around to face his friends.

"That would have been a disaster."

David nodded in agreement. "He hates you Zac. I swear, the teachers are out to get you." He pulled his book bag off of the floor and swung it over his shoulder and proceeded to walk out of the room. He paused at the doorway and turned around. "By the way, the answer is -2x+3, just if you were wondering."

Zac rolled his eyes but smiled. Carly caught his eye and pointed next to her. Zac looked and saw that Cam was still asleep. She placed her index finger to her lips and motioned Zac to be quiet.

Evie was trying to stifle her laugh.

Carly lightly grabbed the elbow that Cam's face was propped up against. She mouthed down from three and quickly pulled his arm out.

Cam's face hit the desk with a heavy "thud". They all laughed as he fell in the pile of his own drool.

He jerked awake. "Wha? What's going on?" he asked, looking around wildly. He shook his head and focused on Zac who was laughing his head off. "Very funny." He said bitterly, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Zac couldn't respond and he just pointed to Carly. "I-It was your girlfriend." He managed to laugh out.

Cam turned to Carly who just hid her face in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself." She said laughing.

Cam sighed. "I guess I did deserve it. I did fall asleep in class. What did I miss?"

Evie giggled. "Zac almost made a fool of himself in class when Mr. Wilkson asked him a question."

"Oh, so nothing new," Cam chuckled.

Carly pulled on Cam's shirt, "Come on. We are going to be late for the movie," she whined.

Cam groaned. "Oh yeah. The new chick-flick everyone is obsessing over. Do we have to go see that one? I wanted to see the new action movie that came out today."

Carly narrowed her eyes at him. "You can go see Space Monkeys 3 at a different time. Besides," she said crossing her arms. "We have already bought tickets. Come on Cam, I already have tissues in the car."

Cam groaned again, but followed his girlfriend out of the classroom.

Zac turned to Evie. "I bet you lunch that Cam will cry more than Carly will at the movie."

Evie smiled deviously. "You are on." They shook hands before exiting the classroom.

"Are you coming over to Rita's house?" Zac asked Evie as they got their book bags out of their lockers. Evie nodded.

"Your parents are driving us there, aren't they?"

Zac smiled as a car horn beeped. "That's them now."

They made their way to the car. Zac opened the door for Evie and slid in after her.

"Hello!" Evie chirped cheerfully.

Lauren, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around.

"How was school?" Lauren asked the brunette.

Evie shot a sly smile towards Zac. "Very interesting."

Zac cleared his throat. "We should go. We don't want to keep them waiting now do we?" He responded and glared at Evie. She smiled innocently.

Rob put the car in drive and they made their way to the Santos residence.

Meanwhile at the grotto, Rita was frantic. Ondina and Mimmi still had not arrived and Weilan did not seem to know the meaning of clean. The grotto was in shambles after Weilan tried to recreate a potion she read about long ago, and ended up setting the pillows on fire.

"No Weilan! Grab the fire extinguisher!" Rita yelled as the Chinese mermaid tried to put out the fire with an old rag. The rag swiftly caught on fire as a result. Weilan screamed and threw the rag on the ground, trying to stamp out the fire.

She huffed in frustration. "This is hopeless! There is no fire extinguisher in here. Mimmi brought it upstairs after Ondina's seafood surprise caught aflame. Just use your moon ring!"

Rita rolled her eyes, but did as Weilan suggested. The fire stopped immediately and the pillows returned back to their original form.

Weilan and Rita sighed in relief and flopped down on the stone bench. They both groaned as the doorbell rang.

Weilan looked over at Rita. "Perfect timing?"

Rita narrowed her eyes and got off of the couch to go and greet the guests.

Weilan scurried after her. They walked fast up the stairs and Weilan waited as Rita opened the door.

"Rob! Lauren! Welcome!" Rita greeted. Rita gave both of them hugs and nodded to Zac and Evie.

Weilan stood awkwardly in the corner. **(Weilan is my spirit animal when it comes to social interaction)**

Lauren noticed Weilan though. "Hello Weilan. How are you?" she asked.

Weilan perked up instantly. "I'm good. Thank you."

Rita led everyone inside and Weilan went to stand next to Zac and Evie. "You ready for this?" she muttered under her breath. Both Zac and Evie gave tight smile nods.

Rita escorted everyone to the bookshelves and stopped in front of them. She turned and waited for the group to catch up with her.

Rob and Lauren looked around. "Um Rita?" Lauren questioned. "I thought that you were showing us the grotto and not your bookcases."

Rita smiled. "Oh, but I am. Evie, will you please do the honors?"

The brunette grinned. "It would be an honor." She reached out and grabbed the book about mermaids, pulling it forwards. The bookcase clicked and slid open. Evie smiled triumphantly and returned the book to its original space.

Lauren and Robs jaws dropped. Weilan reached out and gently shut them.

Rob shook his head in amazement. "That's incredible! How did you do that?"

Rita winked. "Magic." With that, she turned and descended down the staircase. Rob and Lauren hurried after her. The teens followed, all giggling to themselves.

Lauren and Robs eyes went wide when the saw the grotto. They seemed to be absorbing every detail of the magical place.

"This is unbelievable." Rob whispered under his breath. Lauren nodded, still unable to speak.

Rita smiled once again. "Why thank you. It has taken a while to collect everything."

Rob sat down on the bench with a thud, his eyes still wide. A splash, followed by chatter from the other side of the grotto brought him back to reality.

"That will be the girls." Rita announced. She motioned them to follow her. Rob jumped off of the couch and obeyed. Zac, Evie and Weilan stayed behind.

Rita led the two adults to her own version of the moon pool. Mimmi and Ondina were floating in the pool, talking away. Rob and Lauren gasped when they saw the girl's tails. They forgot how beautiful they were.

"You're late girls." Rita interrupted. The two mermaids looked at her, just now realizing that they were not alone.

"Sorry, we were just discussing the bracelet that Weilan mentioned with the mermaid council. They don't think that it will work." Ondina explained.

Rita waved the thought away. "We can discuss that later. We have more important things to discuss. Now dry off and meet us in the main section." Rita turned away sharply and walked back to the main section.

Rob and Lauren lingered. Mimmi waved hello to them and Ondina just rolled her eyes before pulling herself out of the water.

Lauren and Rob stared at her, and then glanced at Mimmi.

"Go on. We will meet up later." She said.

They nodded and obeyed.

As soon as the other girls joined them, they got down to business,

"Thank you both for being here today. I'm sure you both have many questions." Mimmi began.

"I do." Rob announced. He turned to face Rita. "How do you fit into all of this? Mimmi said that you knew her mother. Nerissa is a mermaid and the only way you would have known that is if she told you or…" he trailed when he saw Rita's smirk.

"No way. You too?"

Rita nodded. "I am a mermaid. I left the pod many years ago and made a life for myself on land."

"A mermaid principal." Rob muttered under his breath.

"So you help them with all their mermaid-y stuff?" Lauren asked.

"Yes, not only do the girls stay with me, but I give them aid when I can."

"And she is helping us now with the water dragon. The full moon is a few days away and we have a plan to stop the water dragon."

"The bracelet?" Rob asked.

They all looked at him with awe. "Exactly. Wow dad, you catch on fast." Mimmi said. She looked at her brother with approval.

Rob shrugged. "It comes with practice. Now the bracelet?" he said, eagerly wanting to help. It seemed like he accepted what had happened without any help.

Mimmi nodded. "We think that it will destroy the dragon just like in the legend we read."

Rob gave them a tight lipped smile. "Tell us everything."

 **Hello! So if you have seen season 3, you will know the plan about using the bracelet to defeat the water dragon. I really didn't want to go into depth about the plan because they already did. I didn't want to forget about it though so I mentioned it. I'm also not going to put in Rikki. I know, I'm sorry. :( But, next chapter is another spin off and this chapter is longer-ish so hopefully it makes up for the lack of Rikki.**

 **Sorry if the chapter was a little rushed and scattered. I really wanted to start writing ch. 25, so I was just tying up some loose ends.**

 **I'm also sorry that I haven't updated as fast as I normally do. I have been preparing for exams. I don't even have the next chapter started when I post this. I have been too busy studying. I won't be able to update again until a few days. I have to finish exams and then prepare for the holiday season. Try to be patient. I promise you that I am not quitting the story. Breathe, all will be okay.**

 **I hope you liked it and don't forget to review.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	25. Chapter 25

Mimmi's moon ring was running out of energy and fast. She sat in the grotto, feeling completely helpless as she once more directed the moon rings magic to the glass of water on the table that sat across from her. An image of the current sky showed up as the light of the moon ring bounced off the water, a simple spell the pod used all of the time to check the water's surface for danger. She glanced up at the sky to check the suns position once more. It was falling towards the horizon quickly. They were running out of time. The full moon would be in the sky in a few hours and the mermaids still didn't have a solid plan. They had a risky one but Mimmi wasn't sure if it was going to work.

"Mimmi?" a voice said behind her. Mimmi turned around and saw Lauren standing in the doorway of grotto. She had a fascinated look on her face, the one she always had whenever she saw the kids practicing magic.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Rita let me in, but I could always come back later if you are busy." Lauren said, pointing up at the staircase.

Mimmi waved her hand. "No, you're fine. This thing is going to…" she stopped as her moon rings light flickered and then went out. "Die soon." She finished.

Lauren walked over and sat down on the bench next to Mimmi. "Won't you need that for the fight with the water dragon tonight?" she asked.

Mimmi nodded. "I do but it will get recharged tonight. I don't think that I will need it much before then."

She then turned to face her adopted mother. "What can I do for you?"

"It's more like what can I do for you? How are you feeling? Are you worried about tonight?"

Mimmi sighed. "Of course I'm worried, but Zac said that they had it under control."

Lauren smiled. "Speaking of Zac, where is that darling son of mine?"

"He is with Weilan and Ondina getting the bracelet that we told you about. Weilan said they found it at some diving facility or something like that. All I know is that some blonde diver who lived here many years ago found it during an exhibition. I don't really know."

"A diver?" Lauren questioned.

Mimmi nodded. "Yeah, she started diving around here and then made a name for herself in the states. She has a boy's name I believe. What was it? Ryan? Ralph? Or maybe it was Mickey. It's not important but she has it."

Lauren gave a slight nod. "Okay… I hope you guys aren't doing anything illegal." She stated.

The young brunette gave her a devious grin. "Just following the laws of the sea."

Lauren still looked concerned, but soon realized that there was nothing she could do.

Mimmi put a reassuring hand on Lauren's arm. "Don't worry Mum, we will be fine."

Lauren smiled weakly. "I know you will. I'm always going to worry though."

Mimmi threw her arms around her adopted mother. "And that is why I love you." She smiled as she felt Lauren hug her back tightly.

They separated as they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Zac, Weilan and Ondina were standing in the doorway with Rita trailing behind them. In Zac's hands sat a beautiful golden dragon bracelet with ruby red eyes. It sparked in the light and gave off a majestic glow. Lauren gasped as she gazed at the bracelet. Mimmi's heart began to race in her chest. Everything just became a lot more real.

"Wow" she said aloud. Zac smiled.

"Yeah wow and let me tell you, that thing was not easy to get. Turns out people do not like random kids coming into a museum and stealing…" he stopped when he saw his mother's eyebrows raise. "I mean borrowing a priceless artifact," he said, quickly correcting himself.

Lauren smirked. "Though I'm not pleased with how you took the item, I am sure glad you have it. It is finally time to end that water dragon once and for all."

"That's the spirit!" Weilan chirped awkwardly, throwing her hands up in the air. Lauren stifled a laugh.

" _Mimmi, we need to talk about the plan"_ Zac's voice said in his sisters mind.

" _Here? I mean, shouldn't we go somewhere more private?_ Mimmi questioned.

" _No, if we leave, they will get suspicious. You know Ondina, she will never disobey the pod again. If we get her in on the plan, she will go and tell the council immediately. And Weilan wants justice for her pod. She wants this thing dead. But we both know that can never happen."_

" _Why can't we get mum and dad in it?"_ Mimmi asked.

" _And say what? 'Hey guys, we have been lying to you this entire time again. We are not going to kill the water dragon because we believe it is our mother that abandoned us at birth. Want to help out even though we could be wrong and it's not Nerissa and we could die in a horribly, painful way? Doesn't that sound like fun?' Mimmi, no one else can know. They will just try and talk us out of this. We have to do this alone. For Nerissa."_

Mimmi visibly sighed. _"For Nerissa"_ she agreed.

Luckily, no one was paying attention to the twins, so they didn't notice the change in mood and energy. They were all too busy talking about reorganizing the Eastern Pod when they were done. When the girls turned to face the twins, they quickly put on a façade.

"So, what do you think?" Weilan asked them with a huge smile on her face. Even though they were not paying attention to her, they could tell by the grin that she was excited about something.

Zac cleared his throat. "Sounds great"

Weilan clapped her hands in happiness. "So it's settled. After we defeat this beast, you are all coming to meet my mermaid council. Oh they will love you! The Great Heroes of Mako!" Weilan said, with a wave of her hand across the air as she imagined it on a sign. "And they will totally want to meet you Zac. The merman who restored peace between the mers. Oh! It will be wonderful!"

Ondina took a step back. "Okay, happy Weilan is scaring me. Is she scaring anyone else?"

That comment was met with a slap on her arm from Weilan.

Mimmi laughed. "Okay, now that we have the bracelet, we need to find out who is going to wear it."

"Well that's easy. You will dear," a voice said from behind them. Rita entered the grotto.

"Me?" Mimmi asked, placing her hand to her chest.

"Why of course. The dragon is from the Northern pod so that rules out Weilan and Ondina with trying to defeat it. Zac is originally from the Northern pod, but the only way the bracelet will work is if a mermaid uses it.

Zac smiled at his sister. "Go for it."

Mimmi smiled back and reached for the bracelet. She picked it up and slid it up her slim wrist. She eyed her friends who smiled back at her.

"Let's go and save the world," Weilan said with a devious smile.

Hours later, they were ready. The full moon was high in the sky as it casted its reflection over the water. The nigh air was warm and peaceful, perfect for a relaxing night. Unfortunately for the mers, this night was anything but peaceful.

Away from the mermaids, the water began to bubble. A light blue creature formed under the water. The water dragon emerged, baring its teeth as it let loose an unearthly growl.

Mimmi, Zac, Weilan and Ondina raced toward Mako as fast as they were able to manage.

They arrived in front of the dragon as soon as the full moon was above the moon pool. They stared as a blast if blue energy erupted out of the volcano. The energy of the moon rings blasted the water dragon with a powerful force.

"No!" Mimmi screamed in alarm.

"We'll stop this!" Ondina cried out to her best friend. She and Weilan dove beneath the waves, leaving Zac and Mimmi to face the dragon.

Mimmi was shocked. She was sure that her friends wanted this dragon dead, but there they were, racing to stop a force that could kill it. They didn't want revenge or for it to be destroyed, they wanted to help Mimmi. If Mimmi believed her mother was in there, the two mermaids were going to stop at nothing to help their friend. And they also heard her and Zac talking about their plan earlier that week, so they already knew that their friends were keeping secrets from them.

The dragon let loose a mighty roar. Zac shouted over to his sister, "Now Mimmi!"

Mimmi raised her arm and focused all of her powers on tone bracelet. It began to glow a brilliant red as shot a red beam out to the dragon. The dragon roared as it began to glow a vibrant yellow.

Mimmi smiled and shouted, "She's here! I can feel her!"

Zac smiled and shouted back, "I can feel her too!"

Their happiness was short lived as another blast if energy emerged from the moon pool. Ondina and Weilan couldn't stop the mermaid counsel.

Mimmi tried to summon even more energy, but she had met her limits.

"Mother!" she screamed as lightning stuck the dragon. "Mother come back!" The yellow light inside the dragon exploded, blinding everyone with a brilliant light. The mers placed their hads in front of their eyes to avoid the bright light.

When the light subsided, Mimmi was nowhere to been seen.

"Mimmi!" Zac cried out.

"Mimmi!" yelled Ondina.

Both mers were screaming her name as Weilan just waded there, dumbfounded.

Zac and Ondina were desperately calling the brunettes name as they both fought the tears that were threatening to flow.

The light from the moon pool faded.

"Mimmi!" Ondina cried, now in tears, as Zac still frantically called his beloved sisters name. Nothing.

Then, bubbles in the water started to form. They all held their breaths in anticipation. Finally, not one but two heads emerged from the deep blue sea.

Mimmi was there with Nerissa. Zac stared as his mother smiled and hugged Mimmi. Nerissa then stretched out her hand towards Zac. He hesitated, but then joined the embrace.

"My children" Nerissa said with tears in her eyes.

Zac and Mimmi snuggled up closer to their mother. The threat was no more.

Later in the grotto, Nerissa explained what had happened. Her story made everything so clear. Why she destroyed the Eastern pod and why Zac and Mimmi had a connection.

"Many years ago, I left you here, not knowing if I would ever see you again," Nerissa said to Mimmi. She then turned to face Zac. "It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I will never leave you again." Both teens smiled and hugged their mother.

They broke apart when they heard footsteps coming down towards the grotto.

"Zac? Mimmi?" a voice called desperately. Rob and Lauren rounded the corner and sighed in relief when they saw their children.

"Thank goodness you're both okay. We were so worried when…" Lauren faltered when she saw who they were with. She opened and closed her mouth, looking like a fish out of water. Or a mermaid in that matter.

Rob was the one who broke the silence "Nerissa," he guessed.

Nerissa smiled and nodded.

"You were the water dragon, weren't you?" he asked, finally understanding.

Nerissa nodded again, this time sadly. "I was. I was placed under a spell by an evil mermaid. Do not fear, I had no intention of harming my…um your… um the children. I had full control at that point. Sadly, I did not when I destroyed the eastern pod."

Lauren, finally able to speak again, whispered "You look just like them. I mean, you and Mimmi are a spitting image of course, but I can see Zac in you. You have the same smile and look in your eyes," she put her hand up to her mouth. "This is really happening."

"It really is." Nerissa said as she stood up from the bench. "Lauren and Rob Blakely, I want to thank you for raising Zac when I had to give him up. He has grown into such a wonderful young man. Also, thank you for taking care of Mimmi too. I am forever in your debt. You can come and visit us whenever you would like."

"Wait, what? Where are we going?" Zac said, rising up from the bench to face his biological mother.

Nerissa tilted her head in confusion but smiled. "To the Northern pod of course. It's time for us to head back home and be a real family again.

 **To my wonderful and faithful readers,**

 **Surprise! I'm alive!**

 **I owe you all an explanation and I am so so so so so sorry that it has taken me forever to update.**

 **First my life has been hectic. I am really trying to focus on school work because I will be heading to college in two years and I need to do my very best in order to get into the best school.  
Second, I got a new puppy! She is adorable but don't let those cute looks fool you. She is super naughty. **

**Third, my computer completely broke. Normally, I write most of my chapters in school, but because I didn't have my computer, I couldn't write. I got a new one so we are all good.**

 **Fourth, I am in a musical at my school and I get home super late. I come home, eat, finish my homework and crash. Hey, I need my beauty sleep.**

 **Fifth and most importantly, I have been dealing with a serious case of writer's block. I have a lot of chapters already planned out, but I lack the motivation to get those ideas down. I am really trying to push through it and I really don't want to give you all crappy writing. I am doing the best I can and life can sometimes get in my way. I'm nowhere near perfect. Hopefully by uploading this chapter, I can give myself the boat I need to get back on track.**

 **Thank you all for staying with me during my unplanned break. I swear I have the best readers in the world. I really do appreciate it. You guys are the reason why I keep ion writing and I love you all.**

 **So with that, I have to go and watch my puppy.**

 **I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **See you soon (I promise)**

 **Xoxo,**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	26. Chapter 26

The room turned silent immediately as everyone stared at Nerissa. Rob and Lauren's jaws dropped and Zac stared at his birth mother with anger radiating in his eyes.

"The Northern pod?" Zac managed to bite out bitterly.

Nerissa furrowed her brow and looked around confused, not quite sure what the problem was.

"Yes, the Northern pod. I 'm sure that the mermaid counsel will accept you after you saved the world. There is nothing to be afraid of darling," Nerissa said, placing a hand on her son's shoulder.

Zac pushed off his mother's hand and stared at her angrily. "Afraid? I'm not afraid, I'm mad. You have been back for what, an hour, and you want me to pack up my life and move across the sea with you? No way. I'm not going anywhere."

Nerissa opened her mouth to interject, but Zac quickly silenced her. "What about my parents? What about the people who raised me when you abandoned me?"

"I did tell you that they could come and visit at any time," Nerissa stated.

Rita stepped in. "We are going to give you five some space." She said, motioning for Ondina and Weilan to follow her. Once they left, the conversation continued.

"Nerissa, I cannot go to the Northern pod to live. I have a family on land. Friends, school and I made my life here. I'm sorry but I'm not going." Zac explained.

Nerissa looked down at the floor. "What about your sister? You both just reconnected and you want to be separated again?"

Everyone in the room turned to look at Mimmi who still sat there bench, completely dumbfounded.

Zac looked back at Nerissa. "She's staying here with me."

Nerissa looked directly into her daughter's eyes. "Are you also not coming home? I didn't mean for this living arrangement to be permanent. Mimmi darling, you have friends and family at home. I know that they would be so excited to see you again." She turned and looked at her son. "They would love you too."

"I-I have people waiting for me? I have more of a family?" Mimmi asked in a shy voice.

Nerissa looked surprised. "Of course darling. Aunts and cousins. All who love you. You don't remember?"

"I was four!" Mimmi screamed, standing up from the bench. "I was four when you left me! I had family I could have stayed with? Why did you put me in a different pod?"

Nerissa took a step back, obviously surprised at her children's temper.

"To be close to your brother. To form the bond that you obviously have. By growing up close together, you were able to enhance your powers, even if you were still learning to use them."

Lauren finally had the guts to interject. "Why can't you stay here?" she asked.

Nerissa turned to face the woman. "I need to restore peace in the north. I need to help rebuild the pod. I just thought that my children would want to come with me."

"Well you thought wrong." Rob remarked. "By law, Zac is ours. We adopted him. He is our son. Mimmi on the other hand," he said, nodding to the brunette who sat back down on the bench. "Is not legally ours, but she had merged into our family extremely well. We see her as our daughter. If you think for a second that you can take them away from is, you are dead wrong."

Nerissa was taken aback, "I-I think we have all had enough excitement for one night. I'm going to leave now." She said, edging toward the door.

"Mother wait!" Mimmi cried suddenly, reaching her hand out. Nerissa froze and turned around.

"We don't want you to leave, it's just Zac and I have been through a lot. Gives us a few days to think about our future. Don't make us decide our future tonight."

Nerissa nodded and bid everyone goodnight, leaving though the sea entrance.

Lauren sighed heavily. "Well, that was something. Come on Zac, let's go home."

"I'm actually going to stay with Mimmi tonight," he said sitting down next to his sister on the bench. He reached down to grab her hand, which she grasped tightly. "I think we both need each other right now. I will be home first thing in the morning. I promise."

Lauren hesitated, her eyes flicking down at their combined hands, and caved.

"Of course. Be there for each other. I'll see you both bright and early tomorrow for breakfast."

Lauren walked over and kissed both of the teens on the head. Rob nodded to each of them and they left.

As soon as they were gone, Weilan and Ondina re-entered the grotto.

"What happened?" Weilan asked the twins.

Mimmi's hand stared to shake and Zac could feel her emotion. She was so confused and was trying so hard not to break down.

"They gave us time to think. Do you think the two of us could have the grotto tonight?" Zac questioned.

Ondina nodded. "I'm about to head out anyways." She started walking towards the sea opening but stopped. She turned to Zac. "Take care of her okay."

Zac gave her a curt nod.

After Ondina left, Weilan stood there awkwardly. The twins stared at her. She looked around uncomfortably and then pointed to the exit.

"I'm just gonna go." She said, backing out of the room.

Zac and Mimmi started laughing when she left, but that laughter soon turned into tears as the stress of that day came crashing down on Mimmi. Zac turned to embrace his sister. She sobbed into his baseball tee. He made hushing sounds to try to calm her down. Her entire body shook as sobbed. Zac was only feeling a tiny part of what his sister was feeling. She had just found her missing mother and was told that she had to make a difficult choice. Leave everything behind and have to start all over once again, or leave her mother for a second time.

Minutes pasted and finally Mimmi was able to start to calm down. Zac held her the entire time. Finally, the tears were used up and Mimmi sat there snuggled up to her brother's chest.

" _What are we going to do?"_ Mimmi asked through mind speak.

Zac tilted his head down at her. Her normally bright blue eyes that were full of life, were close. Dried tears lay stained her face. Thank god bodily fluid didn't transform them. Zac didn't think that would improve his sister's mood.

It was obvious that she didn't want to talk out loud.

" _I wish I knew sis, I wish I knew."_

" _Do- do you want to go?"_ Mimmi asked.

Zac sighed. _"I have a life here. I can't pick up my entire life and move across the sea to meet mers who most likely won't accept me. They will see me as a threat. I don't think I can take that chance."_

He felt Mimmi shift her position. She sighed deeply.

" _I don't know what to do. I have made some many friends here, but Nerissa said that there are people waiting for us in the North. I don't want to disappoint anyone."_

" _You wouldn't be disappointing anyone. You have to make the choice that is right for you. If you want to journey with Nerissa, no one would blame you. You haven't seen her in thirteen years. You are able to go and explore the northern waters with mother. If you decide that you want to come visit us, we will embrace you with open arms. Besides, it's not like we are not able to communicate. I mean, we are talking through each other's mind right now. Of course I will miss you terribly, but I completely understand. You don't have to make this decision right now. Come on, it's been a long day. Let's get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning."_ Zac answered tenderly.

Mimmi huffed underneath him.

" _How is it that you always know exactly what to say?"_

Zac chuckled. _"Years of practice. You have met Evie right?"_

Zac looked down to see Mimmi smiling.

"I have," she said aloud. She paused. "Thanks."

Zac nodded and pulled his younger twin closer.

They ended up falling asleep in each other's arms. It was nice, just the two of them. When they first found out about each other, they were close. Now, after everything they have been through, they were inseparable. Brother and sister reunited again. For that moment, everything was good.

It stayed that way until Zac woke up on the bench with Mimmi's foot in his face.

 **Hello!**

 **After ending the other chapter on such a cliffhanger, I decide to have this one end on a lighter, more playful mood. I have a younger sibling and I can guarantee that I woke up with her foot in my face.**

 **Okay, wow. Big decision Mimmi has to make. Will she stay with her brother, or journey backhoe with Nerissa? Only time will tell.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	27. Chapter 27

"Ugh," Zac groaned, pushing his sisters foot away. Somehow through the night, the two of them shifted from cuddling up next to each other, to Zac falling off the bench and onto the floor. Mimmi has swung her feet of the edge of the bench so they dangled in front of her brother face.

Zac sat up and yawned, stretching his sore muscles as they cramped up overnight from laying in such a strange position. He looked up at his younger sister.

Mimmi was sprawled out in a strange position. She fell asleep sitting, so only her torso was horizontal with the bench. She was bent awkwardly at her waist; a position Zac couldn't imagine how it was comfortable. Her slim arms grasped a pillow like her life depended on it. Her wavy brown hair fell in front of her eyes and every time she breathed, a lock of hair would fly up in the air.

Zac smiled, glad to see his sister so calm. He reached over and grabbed his phone off of the coffee table. It was 10:48 in the morning. He had 3 missed calls from his mother, 2 from Evie and almost a dozen text messages from his friends.

 **Evie: what happened?**

 **Evie: did everything go as planned?**

 **Evie: are you alright?**

 **Evie: please text me back. I have to know you are okay**

 **Evie: answer your phone Zac**

 **Evie: Zac?**

 **Evie: Ondina came over to tell me that everything was okay. Is Nerissa really back? How are you feeling? How's Mimmi?**

 **Evie: okay, its late. I'll let you sleep. Please call me in the morning.**

 **Evie: goodnight :)**

Zac smiled. He was so lucky to have such a caring girlfriend. He looked at the other three messages, all from Cam.

 **The Camster: is it done? Is the dragon dead?**

 **The Camster: Evie just texted me. Was the dragon really Nerissa?**

 **The Camster: are you okay? Do you need me to come over? I can be there in 5 minutes with a fresh plate of seafood.**

Even though Cam could be harsh, he was always there for his friends. He did care about them, even though his go-to comforting method was food, and a whole lot of it.

Zac decided to text Evie back first.

 **Zac: hey. Sorry about not answering. I am okay.**

As soon as he hit send, Evie replied almost immediately.

 **Eve: thank goodness. How's Mimmi?**

 **Zac: a little shaken up, but that's to be expected.**

 **Evie: of course. Was she glad to see Nerissa again?**

 **Zac: she had mixed emotions.**

 **Evie: why? What happened?**

Zac paused, not really knowing what to say to Evie.

His phone chimed again.

 **Evie: what did Nerissa want Zac?**

Zac sighed and began typing.

 **Zac: she wants Mimmi and I to go back to the Northern pod with her to be a family again.**

 **Evie: you are joking, right? Tell me you're joking!**

 **Zac: she wants to be our mother again.**

 **Evie: what about Lauren? Does she not count as your mother? What do they think about all of this?**

 **Zac: they are not happy, but in the end, it is our choice and they will support us no matter what.**

Evie was silent for a moment.

 **Evie: what do you want to do?**

 **Zac: stay here, but I don't know what Mimmi wants. I just found her Evie, and I can't lose her again.**

 **Evie: I understand. Where are you right now?**

 **Zac: the grotto with Mimmi, why?**

 **Evie: I bet your parents will want to see you both soon. It's almost 11. I would suggest going home. I will meet up with you later ok.**

 **Zac: ok. Bye.**

 **Evie: XOXO**

Then, Zac decided to let Cam know that he was still alive.

 **Zac: I am fine. We both are.**

 **The Camster: thank god. What happened?**

Zac recounted what he told Evie. Cam was not pleased.

 **The Camster: you mean she wants to take you and Mimmi away from here? She can't do that!**

 **Zac: I know, I know.**

 **The Camster: What are you going to do?**

 **Zac: I don't know but whatever I choose, I know that I need to be with Mimmi. I know it's stupid, but I feel safer when I'm near her. And, I'm a lot more powerful when I'm with her. I lost her once Cam, and I don't plan on it again.**

 **The Camster: listen mate, she will want to go home. But Zac, this is home for you. And what about Evie? You can't just leave her.**

Zac paused. He really couldn't leave her. Or his parents. He had to stay here. His entire life was here.

 **Zac: you are so right. I just need to try to convince her to stay here.**

 **The Camster: go for it mate. I need to go. I need to go and meet Carly at the pier. Stay sane.**

Zac sighed as Cam left. Zac looked back at his sister. To his surprise, her eyes were open and she was sitting up, still grasping the pillow.

"Moring" she greeted. Mimmi looked around the grotto. "What time is it?"

Zac laughed. "Almost 11. We slept in."

Mimmi's eyes widen. "Jeeze, we slept that long. Half of the day is gone."

"At least it's Sunday. You are off of work and I don't have to go to school for another 20-ish hours."

Mimmi smiled. "that's good. Are you hungry?"

Zac's rumbling stomach answered for him. This made his sister laugh. "I will take that as a yes. Café?"

"You know what, I might head home. Mum will fix me something and I know that both of them will want to talk. Do you want to come with?"

The brunette shook her head. "Nah, I really should go and meet up with the girls. I bet they are worried about me. Say hi to Mum and Dad for me."

Zac smiled and nodded. "I understand. Um, will Nerissa be at the moon pool?"

Mimmi's normally permeant smile faded. Her mischievous blue eyes darkened. "I don't know," she said in a whisper. "Is it wrong to want to avoid her? I mean I have been used to living without a mother and now I have two. I had this fantasy in my head that once we rescued her, she would want to be here and we would be one big happy family. I never thought she would want us to leave everything behind to back to our birthplace. I guess I wasn't thinking."

Zac sighed and got off of the floor to sit next to his sister. She placed her head on his shoulder.

"you wanted to see Nerissa more than anything. Of course you thought it was going to be a fairytale ending. Heck, our entire existence is a page out of a bedtime story. Mimmi, your childhood was ripped away from you. There is no shame with not thinking logically and just wishing for peace. I don't think avoiding her is the best way to go though. If you see her, interact with her. She is still our mother."

Mimmi inhaled deeply. "You're right." She pulled away from her brother. "wish me good luck?"

Zac planted a kiss on her forehead. "you don't need luck. You got this."

She smiled and got off of the bench. She made her way to the pool of water and, like an Olympic diver, gracefully dived in to the salty sea.

The saltwater embraced her with open arms. She instantly felt refreshed and rejuvenated. She waited in the pool as her transformation occurred. The clingy fabric of land people clothes melted off of her, and Mimmi finally felt free. She smiled to herself as she felt her awkward two legs fuse into her dearly missed tail. Her smile widened when she felt her scales appear on her breast. Her hair fell gracefully around her in a halo of chocolate. She waited until the bubbles that surrounded her cleared. Mimmi blinked her rich blue eyes a few times, adjusting them to their new atmosphere. With a flick of her powerful tail, she sped out into the open sea.

Mimmi decided that she wasn't in much of a hurry and decided to take her time getting to the moon pool. She followed a group of tunas that appear from behind the reef and swum in the middle of them. She giggled when she felt them brush up against her tail. She looked around her. The ocean was so peaceful. She could see a pair of dolphins chasing each other in the distance. She saw the kelp waving back and forth with the tide. When Mimmi looked up, she was in awe with the way the sun danced off of the water. For the first time in weeks, she felt at peace.

Mimmi decided to not keep her friends waiting and flicked her tail towards Mako. She was completely unaware that something was following her.

Mimmi swam a bit, watching the fish swim without a care in the world. She envied them. The brunette wished that she could relax for one day and not have to worry about saving the world or family problems. She wanted to go to land school and learn about the world outside of the ocean, and when the day was done, relax in the shallow water. She allowed herself to live in those bliss moments for a little while.

Those happy thoughts were suddenly interrupted. Mimmi's golden-orange scales were not only beautiful, but they were super sensitive and picked up everything in the water. They sensed every shift in the tides, every sea creature that swam close to her, and most importantly, every aberration.

Mimmi stopped, her fins flaring in alarm and anticipation. She floated there, her body in battle mode. She whipped her head around and searched for the intruder. Something in the water didn't feel…natural. Whatever it was, it wasn't native to these waters.

Then, Mimmi spotted something hiding behind the coral. She swam over and hesitantly looked behind it. Nothing. Mimmi sighed, letting some bubbles flow out of her parted lips. Shrugging, she then turned around and screamed.

Nerissa was floating behind Mimmi, her eyes wide with shock. She had one hand out, obviously not realizing that her daughter was going to turn around. Mimmi whirled back in alarm, placing her hand on her chest. Her heart was beating rapidly from the jump scare.

Nerissa swam over with concern. Mimmi put her hand up, indicating that she was fine. Her mother pointed to the surface. Mimmi nodded and followed her mother up to where the sky met the water.

"Why?" Mimmi asked in frustration once she inhaled deeply, refueling the oxygen she lost when she screamed. "Why were you following me?"

Nerissa looked at her daughter with a sympathetic gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just needed to get your attention, and you were off in your own world. I was going to tap you on your shoulder, but you turned around at that exact moment. "

"Why did you need to get my attention?" questioned Mimmi.

Nerissa inhaled deeply. "We really need to talk."

 **Hello my faithful readers!**

 **I just realized that it has been exactly one month since I had last updated. How time flies. I'm sorry I have been inactive. I have been B.U.S.Y! let's see.**

 **I have 2-ish weeks left until SUMMER VACATION! *whoop whoop!* when do you guys get off? And if you live in the completely different side of the world, what is your next vacation?**

 **The musical that I was doing is finished and I miss it so much! But, it went off without a hitch and I am ready for the fall production.**

 **I'm going into my senior year soon and I have yet to think about college. So, that's what my summer is going to consist of. Yay me.**

 **Okay, back to the story. I** _ **really**_ **wanted to leave it when I had Mimmi screaming, but I punished you guys too much with my cliffhangers. They are so fun to write.**

 **What is your opinion on Nerissa and what does she want to talk to Mimmi about? You'll just have to wait and see.**

 **Until next time**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	28. Chapter 28

Mimmi entered the moon pool before her mother, looking around to see if they were alone. They were, most of the pod would be finding lunch at this hour, so they had the moon pool to themselves.

Mimmi swam to the side and turned so she could see her mother. Nerissa surfaced, shaking the salt water out of her eyes. She swam to the opposite side of the pool and settled. She looked around the room with awe.

"I haven't seen the Mako moon pool in years. I forgotten how big it was" she said. Nerissa turned to look at her daughter. "Do you know that the Northern pod has their very own moon pool?" she gestured around. "It isn't as grand as this one, but it is beautiful. It's located in a cave off the shore of Canada. You should see it when the full moon is in the sky. The entire cavern lights up. It's simply breathtaking." She stopped and looked at her daughter, who was crossing her arms.

"But that's not why I stopped you" the older mermaid finished.

Mimmi sighed. "then why did you stop me? What did you want to talk about?"

Nerissa gave a sad smile. "My darling girl. I haven't seen you in 13 years. I know nothing about you. We are total strangers. I wanted to get to know my daughter."

Mimmi cocked her head in confusion. "wait, I thought you wanted to try and convince me to go back to Canada with you. I thought that was the reason why you are here."

Nerissa drifted over to her daughter's side. "Not at all" she said, settling down. "I mean, I would love it if your brother and you came back with me, but I didn't even take into consideration that you have a life here. We can discuss that later though. Tell me about yourself."

Shrugging, the brunette answered, "what do you want to know?"

Nerissa gave her a genuine smile. "Anything, everything. I want to know your likes and your dislikes. Your favorite food and your greatest fear. Tell me about your best friend. I believe her name was Ondina."

Mimmi nodded. "yup, that's her. Let's see. I am really into learning. I want to absorb everything I can. I was top of the class in mermaid school and I still want to learn more. I want to learn about land. I even went to land school for a day. See Rita, the mermaid who we live with, is in charge there. She is kind of like Veridia. Everyone listens to her. I find everything about land school so interesting. I…" she stopped when she saw her mother grinning. "what?"

Nerissa shook her head giggling. "It's nothing. It's just that you reminded me of myself when I was your age."

This made Mimmi's face light up. "Well, I do have your DNA."

Nerissa put her hand on Mimmi's shoulder. "That you do. Now what else?"

"Well, to answer your questions, my favorite food is fruit. I wish they grew underwater. I mean, once you've tried pineapple, there is no going back. My greatest fear is heights. Do you know that land people have this metal tube that flies in the sky like a bird? They get inside and they can fly anywhere in the world. It is a lot faster than swimming, but there is no way that I would get into one of those death traps. It's just not natural to fly."

that lay closer to water. I was never one to climb up high. So, being on land so long seems to get boring after a while. What do you do for fun?"

Mimmi was starting to relax. She realized that Nerissa was not up to something. She was genuinely interested in her daughter's life.

"Well, we hang out at a café a lot and we just sit, eat and talk. It's a great place to talk and have a great time. To fit in on land, I got a job. I work at an aquarium." She stopped when she saw her mother's confused look.

"It's a place where land people come to learn about the ocean and marine life. They have animals there and they can preform shows. Don't worry though. They are completely humane. The dolphins love to show off their skills and the land people love to watch them. It's a win-win for everyone. I sell souvenirs there, so I am in no danger of getting splashed. As I told Ondina, there is really no risk. Well. Most of the time."

Nerissa was nodding contently. She loved to see her daughter so happy and passionate about what she was doing.

"I don't know why, but I have the feeling that there is someone there who makes the job more enjoyable. I mean, playing with dolphins are fun, but judging by the blush that is creeping up on your cheeks, there is someone special.

Placing her head in her hands, Mimmi giggled. "How did you know?" she asked, her voice muffled by her hands.

Nerissa's laugh was light like summer air. "Because I felt that exact same way once," she said dreamily.

Mimmi stopped giggling instantly. "With- with my father?" she asked timidly.

Nerissa paused. "That is another story child," she said quietly. The moon pool went into an awkward silence. Nerissa broke it by asking "so who is this lovely boy or girl who has stolen your heart?"

Mimmi blushed. "His name is Chris and before you ask, no he does not know my true identity. We got off on the wrong fin- I mean foot, but once I helped him get a job as a dolphin trainer, we kind of fell for each other. He then had to leave for 3 months to become a dolphin trainer, but he is back and we are doing well." She paused. "Does it bother you that I am dating a land boy?"

The older mermaid shook her head. "I've never been one to disapprove with love. I believe love is love an no one has the right to forbid it. Just be careful though."

Mimmi nodded. "He is really wonderful. Oh mother, you would just love him. He loves the sea almost as much as we do. And he is so smart," Mimmi said, sighing dreamily.

Her daydreams were interrupted by Zac's voice in her head.

" _Hello? Mimmi, are you there?"_

" _Yeah, I'm here. What's going on?"_ She answered.

" _Where are you? I'm on the west side of the reef. I can feel your presence in the water. It's more of a remnant, but I can tell you were scared here. What happened? Are you okay?"_

Mimmi rolled her eyes. Typical older brother. Always worrying about her. _"I'm in the moon pool with Nerissa. She scared on the reef by accident. She wanted to get to know me better. Everything is okay."_

Mimmi could feel Zac's hesitation. It was like he choosing his next words carefully.

" _What?"_ she asked when he didn't answer right away.

" _Nothing. It's just, didn't you want to stay away from Nerissa? Why are you talking with her? Weren't you concerned that she would try to convince you to go back to the Northern pod?"_

" _I might have been wrong. She hasn't even mentioned going back up north. Why don't you swim over here and talk with her too? It might help us understand some things."_

"What is Zac up to?" Nerissa asked, cutting through Mimmi and Zac's conversation. Mimmi jumped back, startled.

She turned to face her mother in surprise. "Wait. You know about mind speak?"

Nerissa grinned deviously. "There is a trait that is very rarely in our family. It mostly has been apparent in the years before the Great War, but the stories still lived on. Most of the family believe it is an old sea tale, but I knew from the moment that you two were born, you inherited the trait. Whenever one cried, the other did. You did everything together. Your bond was so strong that it hurt to break you two up. I knew though, that with the mind speak, you will once again find each other. So, what did your brother say?"

Mimmi blinked in surprise. "He…" she stopped as a searing pain shot through her temples. She winced. Zac was trying to get her attention.

"Mimmi?" Her mother asked nervously seeing her daughter in pain. Mimmi held up a finger.

" _What?!"_ Mimmi mind shouted to her brother.

" _Finally. I was trying to get your attention for a while now."_

" _Sorry, I was talking to Mother. What is your answer? Are you coming to join us?"_

" _I'll be there in a few seconds. Keep your scales on."_

And with that, Mimmi felt her brother disappear from her mind. She turned to her mother. "Zac will be here soon."

Soon was the next second as a figure with a blue tail entered the moon pool. Zac emerged and shook the salt water out of his eyes. He eyed Nerissa and settled next to his sister, who playfully splashed him with water.

Nerissa smiled brightly. "hello son."

Zac nodded in acknowledgement. Mimmi elbowed him in the ribs. _"Hello? Birth mother. Be polite"_

"What have you been talking about?" Zac questioned.

"Nerissa just wanted to learn more about me. I told her about my job, my likes and dislikes. I've told her about Chris and our situation. Stuff like that."

"Do you have someone special Zac?" Nerissa questioned.

Zac seemed to open up pretty quickly, despite being hesitant at first. He told her about Evie, about his upbringing and his journey with discovering who he was. Nerissa filled in some gaps and answered some of their questions. She told them that Zac was exactly 7 and ½ minutes older than Mimmi, but Mimmi was the first one to swim and talk. They also found out that they had a grandmother who was still alive named Mira. She was the only one who attended the twins birth and the only one who knew about Zac. She would have kept Mimmi and raised her, but she soon fell sick after the twins were born. It was Mira who casted the spell to conceal Zac's fins until his 18th birthday. This left Mira very weak and so Mira was too frail to care for an energetic mermaid like Mimmi. It was also wise to keep Mimmi close to Zac and Nerissa had already decided to have Rob and Lauren Blakely raise her son.

There was one thing that Nerissa wouldn't reveal though. The identity of Zac and Mimmi's biological father.

 **Hello there.**

 **Sorry for being so infrequent. I'm out of school for summer and I have been travelling. I just got back from New York for the first time and I loved it. So much history and culture! I'm home now and I can catch up on some reading, Netflix and writing.**

 **So, I never intended to make Nerissa a bad guy. She just thought that her children would come home with her, but will they go with her?**

 **Also, what do you think their biological father will be like? You might meet him in future chapters. *devious smile***

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	29. Chapter 29

While Zac and Mimmi were talking to their birth mother, something strange was happening on land. A thin, red headed girl was sprinting as fast as her legs would carry her. She wove in and around people walking on the street. She looked behind her and saw that they were still chasing her. She was so close to the ocean. Just a little bit further. She jumped over a small child playing with a dog, earning an annoyed look from the child's parents.

"Sorry!" she screamed behind her, but kept running. Only a few more blocks and she would be free. She dared to look behind her again. The cops were still chasing her, but they were losing steam fast.

'It's from all of the donuts.' The red headed girl thought to herself. She then took a sharp left and saw what she was looking for: her favorite privet spot on the pier. She jumped into the pile of old boat parts and shimmied until she was completely hidden from view. She had the smallest opening to see what was outside.

The cops stopped harshly to avoid falling into the water. They puffed heavily and looked around.

The ginger girl ducked down in her hiding place to avoid the smallest chance that they could see her baby blue eyes. She held her breath, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"Blasted girl!" one cop commented. "That pet shop was the third one she hit in the last two weeks. For the strangest reason, she only steals the fish. I don't understand, though. The clerks always say they see a strange flash of blue in the corner. This one had a more interesting story, though. He claimed that he saw all of the water rise in the air with the fish in it. Then the fish were divided into bags in midair. We are checking his vitals now for drugs."

The other cop laughed. "Floating fish, well that's a new one. Still, this thief has a weird obsession with freshwater fish. We need to inform every fish seller so they know to look for this girl. Who knows when she gets bored of fish and starts to steal money."

The cops looked around once more and then left the pier.

The blue-eyed girl let out a sigh of relief. She was safe. Carefully, she crept out of the boat pile and looked up at the streets. There was no one there. The cops were not waiting to ambush her.

She crept to the water's edge and opened up her black leather jacket. She carefully pulled out six bags filled with small fish. The girl opened one after the other and emptied the fish into the ocean.

"Be free, little ones." The girl said in a Canadian accent. Once all of the fish were swimming happily in the water, the girl threw the bags in a small wooden crate. Inside held many plastic baggies and a spare change of clothes. The girl then pushed up a loose log on the pier. Underneath, sand was shoved aside to place the wooden crate. Securing everything back as it was before, the girl dusted the sand off on her jeans and walked back to the edge of the pier and looked into the water. She glanced around once more before diving into the water which now held the free fish.

The ginger girl finally relaxed when she felt her golden tail form. She had did it once again. She had freed the fish that were taken brutally. She thought she was safe until she felt a poke on her shoulder.

Shocked, the mermaid spun around until she saw her accomplice.

The merman looked at her with judging eyes, his tan arms crossed over his bare chest. He pointed out toward sea in a firm way. He was acting like a parent when they told their children to march upstairs to their room.

The mermaid rolled her eyes, but did as she was told. Without a single glance behind her, she knew the merman was following her. Together, they sped into open waters.

When they were far enough from land, the pair surfaced.

"I cannot believe you followed me!" the mermaid said in exasperation.

The merman sighed. "Seriously, Andromeda. How many times do I have to tell you? You cannot keep stealing fish from land people pet stores. There are so many fish in the ocean. Those don't even make a dent."

Andromeda groaned loudly. "And how many times do I have to tell you, Nic? Those monsters are taking the fish inhumanely. **(infishly? Is that the mermaid version of humane?)** It isn't right."

"An-drom-e-da" Nic said, putting emphasis on each syllable of her name. "You are the only vegetarian mermaid that I know. I know you believe what you are doing is right, but you cannot keep going onto land and stealing them. That is abusing your moon ring!"

"I can abuse my moon ring by turning you into a sea slug," Andromeda muttered under her breath.

"What was that, Andi?" Nic asked.

Andromeda brushed a wet curly lock of hair out of her eyes. She smiled sweetly at Nic. "Nothing."

Nic put his head in his right hand. "I swear, if Arista knew about this, she would hang me by my tail right on the pier."

"Well, my mother doesn't need to know about this. Come on, Nic. Where is your sense of adventure?"

"I've lost it after 6 years of hanging out with you. No wonder the merman pod kicked me out. I still don't know why I agree to do stuff with you."

Andi brushed up against him. "Because your life would be so incredibly boring without me." She said, looking up to meet his gaze. It kept longer than they both intended. Andi broke the eye contact when his strong blue tail began to tangle up with her golden one. She turned so her oldest friend wouldn't see her blush.

Nic pulled back too. He cleared his throat. "I supposed it would. You keep me adventurous and I keep you sane. It's a win-win situation." He paused and looked over Andi's shoulder. Andi followed his gaze. In the distance, they saw Arista, Andi's mum, waving at them. Nic's green eyes looked into Andi's blue eyes. She could see the flecks of gold that she had grown to love.

"We should go and see what she wants." Nic said in a hushed tone. Andi nodded. The pair dove under the water and met up with Arista.

"Hi, Mum." Andi greeted.

Arista sighed. "Andromeda. Why is there a rumor among the dolphins saying that they saw you on land?"

Andi looked confused, one of her most convincing facial expressions. "I have no idea, Mother. It must just be someone who looks like me. I've been with Nic the entire afternoon. Right, Nic?" Andi asked, jabbing her elbow into his ribs. He let out a noise like a squeaky toy. He glared at her, the sun shining off his golden hair as it dried.

Nic cleared his throat and answered Arista. "Yeah, we have been together all afternoon. Just hanging out."

Nic was less convincing as he refused to meet Arista's eyes.

"Mmm," Arista hummed. "Is that so? Okay, then. Just remember, I can keep Nic a secret from the mermaid council, but I can't keep land people from figuring things out. Be careful."

"Of course, Mum." Andromeda said. "We are always careful."

"Hey Arista, have you met any other mermen?" Nic asked.

"I haven't, but if they are all as cute and sweet as you are, then I don't see why we have to be enemies," Arista answered, pinching Nic's cheek. Andi groaned.

"Though," Arista continued. "Mira, in her old age, has mumbled something a few times of having a grandson. That would be crazy, though. That would mean my best friend Nerissa would have mated with a merman. I'm not going to explain the whole process to you both again," she said, waving her hands in the air, sending water droplets everywhere. "she might be mistaking Mimmi as a boy."

Andi lit up at that name. "Oh my gosh! Mimmi! I haven't thought about her in the longest time." She turned to Nic. "before I met you, a mermaid named Mimmi was my best friend. You've heard of Nerissa, right?"

When Nic nodded, she continued. "Well, Mimmi was her daughter. Oh! We were so close! I wonder how she is doing. She relocated to the Southern pod over 10 years ago. We used to send messages back and forth to each other, but after we hit teenage years, we got busy. "

Arista nodded. "Mimmi was a special young mer. I still don't understand why Nerissa didn't let her own mother raise her. I mean, even though Mira was weak, her mind was still sharp then. The pod would have helped raise her. But something about the Southern pod was appealing to Nerissa. I remember that she hid a lot after Mimmi was born. She became very secluded and wouldn't talk much. After a year, she went to the Southern pod, and after that, she was fine. I do admit, it was weird. I wonder…" Arista zoned off in thought.

Andi cleared her throat. "Hey mum, that's fun and all, but Nic and I have to go and do something. I'll see you later."

Arista watched as her daughter and the secret merman swam away. Arista still floated there for a while after they left, with the confusing thought of her best friend on her mind.

 **Introducing my own characters!**

 **Meet Andromeda (Andi), Nic, and Arista. They are from the Northern pod. I was planning to introduce them in the next chapter, but I feel like some of you think this story is becoming boring. I wanted to tie up things that appeared on Mako before adding my own characters, but I wanted to keep you all interested. These characters will appear frequently and become main characters soon.**

 **Next chapter is Mimmi and Zac's choice about going with Nerissa.**

 **I would also like to say a huge thank you to** **Aeon The Dimensional Girl for helping me realize that this is my story and I should just ignore negative comments.**

 **I really appreciate the majority of those who review the sweetest things. I read every single one and I take in count your suggestions. I have thought about your critiques and it helps me to become a better writer. This is my first fanfic and the longest story I have ever written. Heck, the next chapter is 30 and it's because of you guys that I keep writing.**

 **To those who leaves negative comments: if you don't like it, then don't read it. If you have helpful comments on how to better my story, please tell me. Don't say that you don't like it or any of that. That's not helpful, and instead, it makes me doubt my abilities of being a writer. And that's all I'm going to say on that subject.**

 **Now, how are you guys liking Andi and Nic? I'm going to have fun with them.**

 **I love you all and thanks so much for reading.**

 **Xoxo**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	30. Chapter 30

Rob and Lauren sat at their kitchen table reading the newspaper. It was hard to focus, though; their minds were somewhere else.

Lauren set her newspaper down with a sigh. She looked over at her husband. "This is hopeless."

Not even looking up from his paper, Rob said, "What is it, dear?"

Lauren pushed down her spouse's paper. He looked up to see her irritated face. "Quit trying to act like nothing is happening when we both know that is not the case."

Rob sat down his newspaper and gave his full attention to his wife.

Lauren sat back in her chair. "What do you think they will do?"

Rob sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. It a choice they have to make for themselves. We don't have any control over this. We just have to let the twins know that we love them."

Lauren folded her arms on the table and put her chin on them. She closed her eyes. "We've had Zac since he was a year old. We watched him grow up. You taught him how to shave and I taught him how to drive. We gave him advice about Evie. We've gone to every single one of his swim competitions and traveled the country with him. Zac may not be blood, but he is our son." She paused. "And Mimmi- we've only known her for so long, but she is part of our family. She is our daughter and we love her. Sure, we weren't there when she took her first steps... er swim, but Nerissa wasn't there to help her grow up either. Mimmi barely remembered her. She grew up with stories about her mother. And now, both of our children might leave us."

Rob put a hand on his wife's shoulder. "We can fight this. We could go to court!"

Lauren scoffed and looked up. "Just imagine how that would go. We are here to fight for legal custody of our adopted son again and we just learned that he is from an ancient race of merfolk. His twin sister is a mermaid and now their magical mother is here to claim them. We would either be thrown out or put into straitjackets and thrown into a mental institution. The children would then go to Nerissa or, God forbid, they would be exposed and experimented on. No thanks. "

Rob sighed again. "You're right. And I don't think that the mermaids have a fair council."

Their thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. The two adults looked at each other. Who would be here on a Monday morning? Zac was at school and Mimmi was supposed to be collecting ingredients for her latest experiment. Zac told them that it was to take her way beyond the reef and in the middle of the ocean. She wouldn't be back for a long time.

It could be a patient of Rob's who wanted to make a house visit. Rob did tell his secretary to move his appointments for today to a later time, as he family business to attend to.

A sharp knock sounded a second time. Rob got up to open it. He was greeted by a raven-haired Nerissa. Her bright blue eyes met his.

"Hello, Rob," She greeted.

Rob took a step back in disbelief, his mouth dropping open. It took him a few moments to pull himself back to reality.

"Nerissa? What on earth are you doing here?"

Nerissa smiled. "I'm sorry to drop by unannounced, but I thought it was about time that we talked."

Rob blinked a few times. "Of course," he said, opening the door wider and stepping aside. "Come in, come in."

As she entered, Nerissa looked around the house. Her eyes gazed at the pictures of Zac on the table by the door. She bent down and picked a frame up. It showed Zac at the age of four at the beach. Rob and Lauren had their arms around him and they were all smiling widely.

"That was the day Zac decided that he wanted to start swimming," Lauren said, walking up behind Nerissa. Nerissa smiled and turned around to greet Lauren.

Lauren looked down at the photo. "He saw some young boys swimming in the water and they were going very fast. Zac turned to me and said "Mummy, I want to swim like them. I want to be as fast as a dolphin." So, we put him in classes the next week and he fell in love," She reminisced, looking up to meet Nerissa's curious eyes. "I guess swimming is in his blood."

Nerissa smiled and put the frame back on the table. The Blakely's brought her to the table and they sat down. Awkward silence filled the room.

"So," Lauren started. "Can I get you anything to drink? I can add salt to water if you want…" She stopped herself. "And I just remembered that you don't drink salt water, just swim in it." She went over and picked up a thin book. She started to leaf through it. "Mimmi brought over this mermaid cookbook that Principal Santos had and I have yet to use. I could try to make something, but…" she squinted. "I don't think we have _Ecklonia radiata_ in the fridge and I don't think it's something I can find in the store."

Nerissa laughed. "I'm fine for the moment. Come, sit down."

Lauren obeyed and sat down next to her husband.

Nerissa inhaled deeply and began to talk. "It would seem like I have made a bad first impression, but I want you to know that I have no intention of separating you from the twins."

Rob and Lauren stared at her. "You don't?" Lauren asked.

Nerissa shook her head, her black hair flying. "Of course not. I have seen with my own eyes how much they have flourished here, and I don't want that to end. Though I didn't mean for this to be a permanent living situation, I see now they are as much your kids as mine; maybe even a bit more. I can see now that both of my… er, _our_ children have made a life here. I know it wasn't fair of me to assume that they would come with me. I just kind of hoped they would. I see how unfair it would be to take away everything they know once again. I don't want to make Mimmi move away from her family for a second time. If they want to stay, then they have my full blessing."

Silence filled the room as the two land people processed the news. Rob spoke first.

"Wow Nerissa, I don't know what to say."

"I do," Lauren interjected. "Thank you. Thank you for not separating me from my children. But why the change of heart?"

Nerissa shrugged. "I know what it's like to have your child taken away from you. I wouldn't want to inflict that pain on another mother."

"But won't you have to feel that pain again?" questioned Rob.

Nodding, Nerissa said "At least this time, I know that I will see my children again. When I left Zac and Mimmi here the first time, it felt like I was saying goodbye. I had to keep hoping that I would see them again, but I wasn't sure. I did have to believe that they would find their way back to the Northern Pod when they were ready, and I see now that they are not."

Lauren did something that surprised Nerissa. She got out of her chair and gave her a hug. Nerissa hugged back tightly.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," Lauren whispered in the mermaid's ear.

"Just keep them safe and happy," Nerissa whispered back.

As Lauren pulled away, she brushed a tear off her own cheek. "We will. And we will come visit you and the Northern Pod. You will see the twins again soon. This time, you are not saying goodbye forever."

Nerissa nodded. "In brighter news, do you know that Mimmi has a boyfriend?"

"What?" Rob screeched, sending the two girls into laughter.

 **I'm back!**

 **Yes, I did look up seaweed that was native to Australia. I had a map up and everything.**

 **See, Nerissa was never the villain. Don't worry, I already have a villain in mind…**

 **I'm deciding to take a break from the drama and add some fluffy stuff. So, get ready for another date with Chris and Mimmi!**

 **Hoped you like it. Sorry for being so infrequent. I start school very soon. Let me adjust and find my rhythm and I'll be back to writing in no time.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	31. Chapter 31

Mimmi was stressed out. She finished collecting her ingredients and was now at work. She was leaning on her toy cart, spinning a dolphin keychain on her index finger, her gaze far away. She was thinking about her mother and what to do with her. When they met in the moon pool, it was nice and calm. She and Zac got some of their questions answered, but it still seemed like she was holding something back.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't even see Chris coming up to her until he waved a hand in front of her face.

"Hello? Is anybody home?"

Mimmi blinked a few times and then looked at the man who interrupted her thoughts. She smiled brightly when she saw him, all of her worries instantly melting away.

He chuckled and bent down to plant a kiss on her cheek, sending Mimmi's cheeks crimson.

Chris smiled when he saw that he caused her to become flushed.

"So, you were pretty lost in thought. What were you thinking about?"

"You know, stuff" Mimmi said with a wave of her hand. She didn't realize that she still had the dolphin keychain on her finger and it flew off into the nearby dolphin pen.

Both teens watched as it hit the water with a satisfying _plop_.

Mimmi looked at Chris with horror on her face. "Oops" she said.

Chris laughed. "I'm sure I can get the dolphin to get that for me later. But for now…" he put his arm around Mimmi's waist. "I am treating you to a picnic for lunch to get your mind away from that stuff you mentioned."

Mimmi sighed and snuggled in closer. "We only have 20 minutes for lunch."

She could feel Chris chuckling. "Then I guess we'll have to eat fast."

The brunette pulled away. "Okay, you go on ahead. Let me just close up my cart and I'll meet you by the gate."

Chris pouted for a second, but did what he was told. Mimmi watched him until he was completely out of sight before dashing to the dolphin exhibit. The mermaid looked around to see if she was truly alone before letting out a soft squeak. The dolphin greeted her with a series of clicking noises. She made a few clicking noises of her own before the dolphin dove beneath the water. It returned in a matter of seconds with the plastic keychain in its mouth. With a flick of its head, the keychain was sent flying into the air which Mimmi was able to catch with a wave of her hand. Not wanting the water to touch her, she dried it in midair before levitating it back down on her stand. She gave a thank-you click to the dolphin before grabbing her bag and running out to meet Chris.

They walked hand in hand down to the beach. Chris spread out a blanket and plopped down his picnic basket. Mimmi stared out at the waves as Chris started to pull out the food. It was a beautiful day with no clouds in the sky. Mimmi felt at peace for once in her busy life.

"And a fish sandwich for the lady," Chris said, handing Mimmi her food. Mimmi smiled and accepted it, biting into it. It was exactly how she liked it. A charred fish with seaweed on white bread. Chris remembered her weird choice of sandwich.

Mimmi sighed contently as she chewed her sandwich. Chris smiled. "Is it good?"

Mimmi blushed a pale pink and swallowed. "Yeah, sorry. I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was."

Chris nodded and took a bite out of his own sandwich. They both were silent for a second as they chewed their food. Chris was the one to break the silence.

"Are you okay? You seem distracted."

Mimmi sighed and set down her sandwich. Realizing that whatever Mimmi was going to say would be important, Chris followed suit. He turned to give his date his full attention.

"My mother came back," Mimmi said after a brief moment of hesitation.

Chris' eyes went wide with shock. "You mean the mother that has been missing? Mimmi, that's fantastic! Congratulations!"

Mimmi didn't smile, but instead, looked down at the sand.

Chris scooted closer to her. "But I'm guessing that's not what you wanted to hear. Why is that upsetting you?"

The brunette looked up at him and he could see tears beginning to form in her eyes. Mimmi took a deep breath. "She wants me to move back with her to Canada."

Chris was silent as he absorbed the news. "Forever?" he asked.

Mimmi shrugged and wiped her eyes with the back of her palm. Chris took the opportunity to pull it away from her face and hold it in his own hand. Mimmi looked back at him to see compassion in his eyes.

"I'm guessing you don't want to go back."

Mimmi sighed deeply. "I was four when I left. I remember almost nothing. I didn't even know I had a biological family there. I have a family here that loves me. I found my best friend here. I found my brother and his family," she hesitated for a moment. "And I found you. I'm not ready to go back."

Chris pulled her to his side. She placed her head on his shoulder. Together, they stared out at the sea.

"Then stay," Chris said quietly.

Mimmi swallowed. "But my mother is going back. I want to get to know her. I want to find out more about my family and where I came from. I want to know who I am."

Chris pulled back and looked at his date. "I can tell you who you are. You are an incredible, sweet, generous and caring girl that I want to get to know even more. Anyone who knows you well enough can tell you that" he looked back out to the sea. "Family is what you make it."

Mimmi remembered the challenges he faced with his parents. She snuggled closer to him and sighed.

"Thanks, Chris."

Even though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was smiling. "Anytime."

Mimmi pulled back, closed her eyes and made her lips into a line. "I ruined this date," she said guiltily.

Chris cocked his head. "No you didn't. I like talking to you. I like finding out more about you."

"But you planned this amazing lunch and all we did was sit here and talk about my crazy life. We barely touched the food."

Shrugging, Chris answered, "I'll save it for later. The food was made by the café, so I'm sure they can make your weird sandwich again."

Mimmi giggled and looked at her watch. "We have 5 minutes left. We should start heading back now."

"Or," Chris said, "We can come in late and instead go swimming."

Mimmi's eyes widened. "No!"

Chris looked at her strangely.

"I mean, no because we don't have any time and we don't have our swim suits."

Chris sighed and nodded. "You're right." A smile blossomed over his lips. "Though we do have time for an ice cream! Come on, I'm buying."

Together, they picked up the picnic and walked to the ice cream shop before returning to work. After his shift was done, Chris retrieved his stuff from his locker. He grabbed his car keys and smiled as something caught his eye. He drove home with a little plastic dolphin attached to his keys.

 **I ADORE WRITING FLUFF!**

 **I wish I could write more fluff, but I need to finish some stuff up.**

 **Okay, here I what I have coming up.**

 **The twin's choices to stay or go**

 **More of Andi and Nic**

 **Don't think I forgot about the purple book. The owner will be revealed soon enough.**

 **Answering your question about Evie's tail**

 **Now I have a question. Do you guys want anything else? Maybe some Zevie? Let me know in the comments!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	32. Chapter 32

Mimmi waked into the grotto and immediately collapsed onto the stone bench, her face luckily hitting a pillow. Ondina, who was sitting next to the place she collapsed, didn't even bother to look up from a fashion magazine.

"Good day?" she asked her best friend.

Mimmi sighed happily into the pillow.

"Cool" Ondina said nodding and went back to her magazine. She did put her hand out and started to braid little pieces of Mimmi's hair.

Mimmi started chuckling to herself as she thought about her day. This made Ondina look up from the article she was reading.

"Okay, so a very good day. Spill."

Mimmi sat up from her position. She sat upright and looked at her best friend. Her cheeks were bright red and there was a dreamy look in her eyes.

Ondina grinned. "Let me guess, Chris?"

Mimmi's response was to bury her face in her hands.

The blonde nodded, satisfied that she got it right. She licked her finger and made a line in the air. "One point to the ultimate BFF."

Mimmmi responded by hitting her with a pillow.

"Okay, so you know me. So what? And Chris took me out on a date! Oh it was so romantic! We went to the beach and before you say anything, we stayed far away from the water. He packed the most amazing picnic and he even let me rant about my mom. He is such a good listener!" she said sighing in content.

Ondina nodded and smiled. Mimmi noticed that her smile was forced and she was biting back her words.

"I'm being careful, I swear." Mimmi said, holding up her hand.

Ondina shook her head. "I know you are. I'm not worried about that. I know you can take care of yourself. You are no longer hatchling. It's just…" Ondina trailed off.

Mimmi sighed. "Ondina, we've been over this. Chris is nothing like Erik. I know that he would never hurt me. Also, Erik will not be the last boyfriend you will ever have. I know there are boys out there who will love you unconditionally." Mimmi smiled slyly. "you know; I know this guy who would be totally…"

The blonde silenced her by waving her arms around frantically. "Nope. I have seen those romantic movies. I am not going on a blind date. No way!"

Mimmi laughed cheerfully. "if you say so. I bet there are thousands of boys out there who would give anything to date a mermaid. Just saying though."

Rolling her eyes, Ondina went back to her magazine. Mimmi pouted, wanting to talk more with her friend.

"Ondina?" she said, poking her in the side.

Ondina looked over her magazine with a raised eyebrow.

"what?" she questioned.

"Speaking of movies, why do we never do one of those spa days that all BFF's do?"

"Because" answered Ondina, "I don't think the ladies would appreciate us turning into mermaids when they try to do our nails."

Mimmi pouted, thinking. "well, we could do it in the grotto…" Mimmi suggested.

Ondina raised her eyebrows. "That's not actually a bad idea."

"What's not a bad idea?" a voice asked behind them. They turned to see Evie smiling in the doorway of the grotto.

"A spa day" Mimmi answered smiling back.

Evie let out a squeal and joined the other two girls on the couch. "Oh that would be wonderful and it's exactly what we need." Evie's eyes sparkled with delight. "And now that I can get wet, I can personally give you guys a spa experience. We can paint nails and do each-others hair and have so much fun."

She pulled out her phone, her thumbs flying rapidly against the screen. "I'll text Carly and tell her to swing past my house to pick up supplies." She stopped suddenly and turned to face the girls. "Would she be allowed down here?"

Mimmi shrugged. "She knows our secret, so I don't think it will be a problem." Ondina nodded in agreement.

"Great!" Evie responded, her thumbs returned to her phone. "There" she said, placing her phone down on the table when she was finished. "Did you guys ever have a spa day in the pod?"

Ondina laughed. "Oh yeah. It was so much fun. We would lounge on a deserted beach and let the sun warm our scales. We would file each-others nails with coral and paint them with berries that fell from trees into the sea. Sadly, it would wash off when we went below the waves, but it was still fun."

Evie sighed. "That sounds great. Do you guys want to go out and grab somethings to bring to the spa day? We can meet back in an hour."

Mimmi giggled and jumped off the couch. "I'll race you to the nearest kelp patch!" the girls ran towards the land entrance.

An hour later, Ondina, Mimmi, Evie and Carly were all settled in the grotto. Carly was at first in awe of Rita's extensive collection.

Mimmi was mixing up a batch of goop which she said would make their scales feel as smooth as ice. Evie and Carly were comparing their nail polishes and Ondina was heating up the land entrance to make into their hot tub. Everything was falling perfectly into place.

"Ready!" Ondiina cried out, stepping back into the grotto.

Mimmi squealed in delight and shoved the bowl of goop into Evie's arms before running into the other room.

Evie and Carly heard a huge splash, followed by a frustrated groan.

The two land girls entered the other room. Mimmi was floating lazily in the middle of the pool with her brown hair floating above her head like a halo. Ondina stood on the side, completely drenched in salt water.

"Nice" she commented as she fell forward, hitting the water at a painful angle. She surfaced a second later, spitting salt water out of her mouth. She glared at Mimmi, who was floating without a care in the world.

Evie put the bowl on the rocky ledge before taking off her clothes to reveal her swim suit and diving into the water.

Carly climbed in too and sighed. "This feels perfect" she commented, relaxing on the side.

Mimmi sunk her tail below the water to make room for her friends. She swam over to the side.

"This is exactly what we needed. A relaxing day without worrying about water dragons or full moons" Mimmi sighed happily.

Evie nodded in agreement. "Absolutely delightful."

Ondina looked over at her with a curious expression on her face. "Evie?" she began.

Evie looked at her direction.

"Do you want your tail back?"

Evie paused, clearly not prepared to answer the question.

"Yeah" Mimmi joined in. "I'm sure Nerissa has the power to give you back your tail."

"Uhh..." Evie mumbled, looking over to Carly. "I've been thinking about that recently. I don't think I want it back" she said quietly.

The room went silent.

"You don't want it back?" Mimmi asked carefully.

Evie smiled wearily. "Don't get me wrong. I loved be a mermaid, but it's not me. I was born a land person, and I think I want to continue being a land person. Sure I miss swimming as fast as a dolphin and controlling water, but I don't miss hiding the secret from people. I was so tired of lying to my dad, and now I don't have to."

Mimmi grinned compassionately. "I understand completely. You can do whatever you think is best. But" she said winking, "If you want it back, give me a call."

Everyone laughed and the rest of the spa day was very relaxing.

 **Okay, so I'm alive.**

 **I know this chapter sucks and I'm sorry. I have been super busy with school. Speaking of school…**

 **YOUR GIRL JUST FINISHED 4/8 EXAMS AND GOT INTO 6 COLLEGES!**

 **So you can see why I have been absent and why this chapter sucks. This was just a filler chapter, next one will be more interesting.**

 **I decided to not give Evie back her tail. I think she would be happier being a regular land person and not lie to her love ones. Sure, I was heartbroken when she lost her tail, but I think it was the right choice. Sorry if you really wanted her to get it back.**

 **Thanks for being so patient with me. I will try to update as soon and as often as I can. I just have a lot of things on my plate right now.**

 **I love you all!**

 **Thanks for reading**

 **~Moonlight Mermaids**


	33. Chapter 33

My dear and faithful readers,

I am really dreading doing this, but sadly, I am ending Closer to the Truth. This story has been so dear to me and you all have been the most supportive group of people that I have had the pleasure of interacting with and I owe you all an explanation.

I started CTTT (Closer to the Truth) during my sophomore year and it really helped me expressed my feelings in a creative way. It helped me when I was having friend problems and when I just needed to escape from reality. I love writing and making the characters do what I wanted. It really introduced me into the world of storytelling, something I love to this day. I want to produce my best work and lately, that work is fading. I am 18 now and my interests have changed dramatically in those 2 years. I still love fantasy and magic, but I am not as passionate as I was back then. I don't want to produce half-baked ideas just to please when I am not pleasing myself. You all deserve the best I can do, and I am not living up to it.

Because of this fanfiction and the love and support I have received through CTTT, I decided to branch away from retelling other people's stories and start telling my own. I am currently writing my own book with my own characters and I love it. It reminded me why I love to write and I get to choose what happens. I am actually hoping to publish it in a few years, something I could never do with this story due to copyright. I want to thank all of you though, because this story has helped me develop my skills and find my love of writing.

I also want to tell you where I was planning on going with the story, hopefully answering some questions. If you have any I didn't answer, feel free to DM me and I will answer.

The purple book belonged to Zac and Mimmi's father which I was planning to introduce

I was going to have Chris find out in a real dramatic way which ended in them showing him the moon pool to get him to understand more

I was planning on Andi and Nic meet the group and become friends

Then I was planning on having some sort of conflict between the mermaids and the land people

I had so many little things that I wanted to put in and I'm sorry to say that I can't anymore. I really wish that I had the drive to write more, but sadly, I don't. I'm not going to write about something that I have no interest in. I'm going to write about what I am passionate about.

Thanks for being so incredible and for welcoming me into the community. Words cannot express how grateful I am to each one of you. I love you all.

Saying goodbye one last time

Thanks for reading!

Anna (Moonlight Mermaids)


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